


Missing

by Saquesha13



Category: The Dolan Twins
Genre: Dolan twins, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Fluff and Angst, Grethan, Kidnapping, M/M, Magic, Mystery, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Torture, Twincest
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-20
Updated: 2019-11-19
Packaged: 2020-10-24 13:07:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 29,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20706491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saquesha13/pseuds/Saquesha13
Summary: Grayson's whole world is flipped upside-down the day his twin brother Ethan Dolan goes missing. But when he finds Ethan years later he learns things about his brother that he didn't even know were humanly possible. Grayson soon realizes you can't trust anyone, not even their own parents. And when he starts to feel romantic feelings for his own brother just making things even more complicated, what could possibly go wrong?*TWINCEST*





	1. Chapter One

Grayson tears off some pink fluffy cotton candy, shoving it in his mouth enjoying the way it melts instantly on his tongue making his taste buds dance in his mouth. Carnival music plays from the merry go round right next to the ferris wheel that he and Ethan just got off of and were heading over to the bumper cars to meet up with Cameron and their parents. His arm was linked with his twins as they continued to share their cotton candy, spending the five dollars their parents had given them on the delicious treat. 

Grayson can’t figure out why he cannot bring himself to look at his brother when all he has to do is turn his head just a tad to look at him. It almost feels like he isn't in complete control of his own actions because he wants more than anything to just lay his eyes on Ethan. He doesn’t have to though, he already knows what Ethan is wearing today. Black skinny jeans with tears down this thighs to his knees, his pink shirt is an adidas cut off showing his tan strong arms, he is wearing white high top converse and his long curly hair has a purple streak at the top. He had just dyed it before they left the house this morning. 

They were about to round the corner, right past the porta potties where the bumper cars are when Ethan unlinked his arm from Grayson’s, handing him their cotton candy. Grayson is looking at him now, but yet he still cannot see him. The carnival song changes to another happy upbeat song, but to Grayson it is the complete opposite of happy. This song sends chills down his spine and the volume seems to have gone up making Grayson want to cover his ears but he can’t. He tries to squint his eyes to focus better on his brothers face, despratly wanting to just fucking look at his sixteen year old twin. 

His heart rate is beating so fast it feels like it’s going to explode out of his chest because he knows something bad is going to happen. He can’t hear Ethan’s voice over the music being so loud, but can faintly see his lips. “I’ll meet you at the bumper cars Gray, gonna go pee real quick.” Grayson feels himself nod in response, watching briefly as Ethan heads towards an empty stall, and Grayson’s feet move at their own accord even though he wants more than anything to stay and wait for his twin. Instead he walks away, the bumper cars already in sight. 

Tears are running down Grayson’s cheeks even though he feels a smile on his lips as he watches his sister ram her blue bumper car into their mother’s red one, he watches them laugh as they zoom around the corner to his father to double team him. Grayson watches them have fun, but his mind is screaming at him to turn around. Don’t leave Ethan alone. Go wait for him. The music is loud enough to make his ears bleed at this point, but everyone around him doesn’t even seem to notice, they don’t even notice Grayson crying as they walk past him. His feet feel like they are glued to the grass, his back facing where he left Ethan just a couple hundred feet away. 

Maybe that is why he hadn’t noticed that day. Because he couldn’t wait five minutes for his twin brother to go to the bathroom, he had wanted to make it in time for bumper cars so badly so he could ride it with his family. It is all his fault. 

Ten minutes passed before his parents and sister finished the ride and got off before meeting Grayson. He noticed he can see them clear as day, but why not Ethan? Why was he all fuzzy? The music is still at a deafening volume, the tears are still falling on his cheeks, but his own family doesn’t seem fazed one bit. He reads his mom's lips, asking where Ethan is. Grayson points behind him with his thumb towards the bathrooms. 

That is when a woman coming from that direction screams bloody murder. 

Everything after that feels like the world is moving in slow motion. Grayson’s feet are moving, he is shoving people out of the way that are running in panic to get away, he needs to get back to where he left Ethan. People around him are running for their lives, kids dropping their carnival prizes leaving the stuffed toys to fend for themselves. The merry go round music doesn’t stop, and seems to slow with the seen around them. His dad yanks Grayson back by his arm when he hears gunshots, but Grayson shoves him off. 

Finally breaking through a crowd of people, Grayson watches in horror as his older brother is being carried away, blood oozing down from his forehead in the arms of a man. 

Gasping, Grayson shoots up yanking the covers off his sweaty body. Blinking away the tears he cried in his sleep, he looks over at his clock. 4:16AM. Great, getting one hour of sleep on the first day back from winter break on senior year it is then. There is no way in hell he is going back to sleep after that dream, because once he closes his eyes he will see it all over again. He’d rather not relive the worst memory in his life over and over again.

His bare feet pad their way through his and Ethan’s shared room, tossing on some black sweatpants he nearly tips over from sleepiness but catches himself on Ethan’s dresser. The moonlight shines through the window, showing off Ethan’s side of the room, nice and clean compared to Grayson’s messy side. His bottom lip quivers at the sight, and he can almost picture Ethan laying in his own bed curled up under the blankets making his eyes water. Running his fingers through his hair Grayson sighs, then heads out of his room down the stairs to the basement. 

The carnival song from that memory is playing on repeat in his mind, and every time he blinks he can still see Ethan’s unconscious face. Gritting his teeth, Grayson puts his blue Beats over his ears and puts on his Linkin Park playlist on. He goes to the corner where they keep all their equipment and picks up his red fingerless gloves before strapping them on tight. Heading to the other corner of their gym he lets himself get lost in beating the living shit out of his dads punching bag. 

His knuckles hitting the bag over and over stings, he lets the bag swing out before kicking it and going back in with a right hook. It doesn’t matter what he does though, he could be in the middle of a football game, the most important one of the year and go to pass the ball to number 12, Ethan’s old jersey number, but when the player turns around and Grayson sees the long blonde hair poking out of the helmet, he freezes up. He ruined their regionals game and made them take the loss for their last game of the season because he was having a literal panic attack in front of the whole school. He doesn’t even remember getting tackled so hard from behind that he landed on his wrist and broke it. 

He should still have a cast, but got sick of the black itchy thing in the beginning of December and sawed it off himself. His parents weren't too happy with him about that one. But to be fair his wrist is completely healed! 

His mind always seems to fall back to Ethan. Life without him in it has been a living hell. They used to do everything together. They got their driver's licenses on the same day, played every sport together on the same team, sophomore year even went to prom together when they couldn’t find dates, they used to sleep on the trampoline together just the two of them under the stars, sometimes they would even shower together. A world without your twin brother feels useless. 

It has been three in a half years since Ethan went missing. 

The cops should still be looking for him, but they have moved other missing peoples cases ahead of Ethan’s, that are more recent cases that is. Some cops believe Ethan is dead. After the incident at the Carnival, after Grayson had chased that kidnapper down as fast as he could but didn’t catch him in time before he drove off with Ethan in a white van - the cops had sat Grayson down. By then he was completely distraught. But he explained everything he had seen. From Ethan’s outfit to what type of van the kidnapper was driving. The cops were sure since it was a mass shooting that Ethan was for sure dead already, that he had been one of the many that got shot and died at the scene. 

But Grayson refuses to think like that. Ethan is not dead. He would know it if he was.

A tap on his shoulder makes Grayson whip around and nearly punch the intruder in the face. Luckily it was his dad and not one of his sisters because Sean grabbed Grayson’s fist in his palm easily, giving Grayson a concerned smile only making Grayson roll his eyes. He is sick of his family trying to walk around him. 

When Ethan first disappeared, Grayson shut everyone down. He ghosted his friends and locked himself in his and Ethan’s room. He would lay there in Ethan’s bed, blankly staring at the wall before falling asleep holding Ethan’s pillow to his chest. He’d spend hours in the shower letting the hot water burn his bare skin as he cried. He only wore Ethan’s clothes at the time instead of his own, loving the way they smelt like him. He’d do this everyday for a week, and at night he would sneak out to go search for his twin while everyone else was sleeping. 

His mom forced Grayson to come out of the room eventually, nearly shoving food down his throat since he was refusing to eat, and it showed. His family had tried their best to even get Grayson to crack a smile. And thinking back to that time he feels like shit because they were hurting too. 

Not much has changed since then. The family hasn’t been the same without Ethan. Cameron moved away, off to college to continue her life. And Grayson is angry at her for it, how can she go on pretending everything is okay when it’s not? His parents hide their sadness, which also annoys Grayson, but he tries his best not to snap at them as much. He can see the pain in his mothers eyes. 

“Couldn’t sleep?” Sean is holding something in his hand, looking down at it Grayson notices it is avocado toast. He just shakes his head in response, removing the gloves off of his hands, ignoring his bloody knuckles. He was punching the bag so hard it had peeled off his scabs from last time. “You better get ready for school, you are going to be late.” Sighing just at the thought of school, Grayson grabs the toast off of the plate his father is still holding out for him and taking a bite as he heads up the stairs. “Thanks.” He mumbled through a mouth full of food and heads upstairs to shower. 

Apparently he was working out for two in a half hours.

He takes a fast shower making sure to get all the sweat off of him from his dream and his workout before drying off and putting on some clothes and barely managing to fix up his hair. Tossing on a plain black long sleeve shirt, Grayson puts on some dark ripped jeans and some vans, then slides on his leather jacket before grabbing his keys and heading out the door. His mom is in the kitchen before he can leave, handing him his lunch, because if she doesn’t make it for him then he won’t eat. “Have a good day sweetie.” She smiles at him, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

“See you later.” Is all Grayson says before shoving his brown bag full of food in his blue backpack and heading out the door. Seeing his black motorcycle right where he left it in the driveway is one of the few things that actually brightens up his mood. Rubbing his fingertips along the shiny paint, admiring the bike he paid for with his own money, Grayson throws his leg over and takes a seat before starting the engine and speeding his way down to school.

High school was boring and going without Ethan by his side felt like fucking hell itself. It took Grayson a while to get where he is now with out Ethan protecting him though. Before, whenever bullies would come up to him, Ethan would always scare them away, he was the bigger twin. But once Ethan got taken, Grayson was eventually forced to go back to school. He was lonely, scared and depressed at the time and let the bullies beat him up without even caring. He wouldn’t defend himself thinking he deserved it. Of course now he is still very much lonley, and depressed, but Grayson isn’t scared anymore. Now the bullies are scared of him.

After he finally fought back after spring break in junior year, and put Thomas Iverson the schools football captain in the hospital, no one dared to mess with Grayson.

Well no one except for Jake.

He was halfway through the school day, just gotten done eating the pb&j his mom made him for lunch sitting in his usual spot in the courtyard alone, when a fimalar flop of blonde hair was suddenly in his line of eye sight. Rolling his eyes immediately, Grayson just decides to ignore him because maybe for once Jake will get the hint and disappear.

“Hey Dolan! I’ve noticed you are always sitting at this table you’ve claimed alone. You saving this seat next to you for someone?” Jake asks, although his voice is totally friendly, coming across as innocent, the smirk on his lips says otherwise. Grayson grips his blue powerade tight in his hand, continuing to sip out of it as Jake’s mouth keeps talking. “You know, I’m just going to give you some advice. Guy to guy.” Jake says before planting his ass in the open spot next to Grayson who doesn’t even give a glance at the boy. “You are one of the hottest guys on campus, you play sports and drive a fucking Harley! You could be more popular than Emma and Aaron if you wanted to. You could have friends!” Grayson’s eyes snap up to Jakes in a dark glare when he feels Jakes hand slap his shoulder and leave it there. “All you gotta do is stop saving a seat next to you for someone who is fucking dead and move on with your goddamn life like your sister has.” Jake spits darkly, hitting just the right spot for Grayson to place his empty gatorade down on the table.

Jake’s smile falls right off his face when Grayson grips the hand on his shoulder hard. He moved so fast Jake flinches and tries to jerk out of his painful hold. “The hell man?! Let go of me!” He wines. His eyes widen when Grayson twists his arm further and further and further, the pain shoots straight up his arm as he yelps. 

“Ethan is not dead.” Grayson’s voice is low, and Jake can’t even bring himself to look up at Grayson already feeling his burning gaze on his face. They are surrounded by teenagers, being filmed on iphones, going live on facebook and getting posted on snapchat. People are talking all around them wondering why Jake is stupid enough to mess with Grayson. Everyone knows not to talk to him, especially about his lost twin brother. The crowd of people gasp when Grayson actually breaks Jakes arm, if you listen close enough you can hear his bone snap in half under his screams. But Grayson doesn’t stop there. He acts as if Jakes face is his dads punching bag, throwing his fists fast and hard, not even stopping when he splits Jakes bottom lip open. Everyone around them is going wild and Grayson doesn’t stop until he feels Jake gets what he deserves. 

By the time the lunch bell rings signaling it’s over and now time to head to class, Jake collapses to the floor with a thud. Grayson steps over his unconscious body, all the kids quickly make way for him as he storms by and exits the building no longer wanting to be here. He knows he might get expelled for this one, this is his tenth fight since the beginning of the year and his third time putting a kid in the hospital. But Grayson doesn’t give a shit. 

Getting on his motorcycle, Grayson wipes the blood off his knuckles and onto his jeans before speeding it out of there. He doesn’t know exactly where he is going, all he knows is he is pissed and riding helps cool him down. Sometimes he lets his anger get the best of him and this definitely was one of those times, but he isn’t sorry. Jake deserved it. The wind is blowing his hair every witch way, the crisp winter breeze almost making his eyes water as he flies down the road, the green trees blurring together at the speed he is going. He has never been on this road before, it is on a mountain on the edge of town and the view from over here is breathtaking. The sun is hidden behind the clouds casting the pefrect lighting over Califronia, Grayson was so distracted that he almost didn’t see a fucking person stumbling out of the trees and into the road. 

Gripping his break clutch hard, the back tire screeched loudly and Grayson finds himself turning the handlebars hard so he doesn’t run this psycho over. Smoke kicks up from how hard he is breaking and when he finally comes to a full stop, his heart rate skyrocketing from what just happened Grayson doesn’t even get to look at the person that almost became roadkill because of all the smoke from his tire.

It smells like burnt rubber mixed with humidity in the air, Grayson squints his eyes to see through the smoke that is clearing up to see a boy standing there in the middle of the road. A boy who looks identical to himself. Grayson’s eyes go wide and for a second he swears to god he is seeing things. But then he notices the boy looking right back at him with tears falling down his bruised cheeks. 

“Grayson?” His voice is raspy, it sounds like it has gotten a bit deeper over the years. His hair is different now, not as long as it was but still looks good on him. He looks like he has been to hell and back judging by all the scars and bruises along his body, but it is him. Grayson doesn’t remember climbing off his bike, but somehow he is walking towards the boy who is limping towards him. Both boys have tears falling down their cheeks and Grayson wastes no time pulling him in his arms and holding onto him in a tight embrace sobbing uncontrollably onto his bare shoulder.

“Oh my god, it’s really you! I missed you so much Ethan.”


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ethan and Grayson drive to a motel for the night and Grayson takes care of his brother while Ethan explains what happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, you all wanted this so here it is. I have it all planned out and let me tell you, you have no clue where I'm taking it >:)

Grayson was shaking in Ethan’s arms as he sobbed on his shoulder and held onto him tight. Ethan was in the same position as Grayson was, he didn’t want to let go of his brothers warm embrasse but knew they had to move now. He pulled away wiping the snot away from his nose with his hand and gets a good look at his twin for the first time in years. Grayson runs his fingers through Ethan’s hair giving him a sad smile noticing all the bruises covering Ethan’s body. 

He looks like he has hardly eaten anything and is very dangerously thin. Grayson has so many questions for him but doesn’t even know where to start. Where has Ethan been this whole time? Who took him? They obviously beat him but how bad are the wounds? Did they even feed him at all? Why is he wandering around in the woods by himself? Did he just break out or has he been broken out for a while and got lost? 

Ethan’s head whips around making Grayson look over Ethan’s shoulder. He grabs Ethan’s bony hand in his own and tugs him a bit closer feeling overprotective. He doesn’t see or hear anything but he is still on high alert because Ethan is frozen next to him. Was Ethan being chased? 

“We gotta go before they find me.” Ethan finally turns his gaze over to meet Grayson’s strong gaze. He can tell by the look in his hazel eyes that Grayson may not let him out of his sight for a while, and he has a tight grip on his hand also proving that point. 

“Whose ‘they’?” Grayson asks tugging Ethan closer to his body, his eyes roaming around the trees surrounding the road looking for someone to beat the living shit out of for taking his twin away from him. 

“Grayson, trust me i’ll tell you everything,” He pauses, gripping Grayson by his jaw to get his baby brother to look at him so he sees just how serious he is being right now. “But right now we have to get as far away from here as possible.” 

Chewing on his bottom lip, Grayson eyes his brothers condition again. He really needs some food and water in him. And a warm bath. Sighing, Grayson decides Ethan is right. Besides he has no fucking idea who or what he is dealing with. There is a possibility that there are multiple people involved with his kidnapping and Grayson has only ever fought two people at one time, no more than that. “Okay, you are right. C’mon.” He notices Ethan flinch as he grips his shoulders to help him to the bike and immediately takes his hands off his twin in worry he had hurt him. “Sorry E. Here take this.” He opens the small compartment from his bike and hands Ethan the helmet their mom bought Grayson, the one he always ‘forget’ to wear. 

Ethan doesn’t say anything but Grayson notices the small gleam in his eyes when he sits on the back of the bike right behind Grayson, wrapping skinny arms around Grayson’s wasit. Ethan had always talked about wanting to ride a motorcycle, and to be honest that is the only reason why Grayson bought it. Because he thought maybe if Ethan saw it, then Grayson would find him staring at it or trying to steal it. “Hold onto me tight, we got a long ride till we get back to the house.” Ethan’s arms wrap around him and Grayson’s eyes water all over again just from the feeling of his brother touching him. Because Ethan is here, alive. 

“W-Wait Gray!” Grayson had just kicked down the kickstand and was about to speed off in the direction he came from, but stopped to turn his head and listen to his twin seeing as you can’t hear shit when driving a motorcycle. “We can’t go back to the house just yet, it’s not safe. Can we please stay at a motel or something?” Grayson can hear the desperation in Ethan’s voice and it worries him. From what he is saying that means someone really bad must be hunting Ethan down like a fucking deer. Because why else wouldn’t the house be safe? And as selfish as it is, Grayson kinda wants Ethan all to himself right now anyways. He knows his parents are going to kill him for not telling them he found their lost son, but they can wait twenty-four hours. “No problem Etee.” 

Ethan’s heart is soaring to be here with Grayson on a fucking harley. When he first got taken this is the type of happy shit he’d dream about at night and it’s actually happening. He just wishes he could take off this helmet so when he rests his head on Grayson’s back he could actually feel the warmth radiating off of his strong brother. Strong is kind of an understatement though because when Ethan last saw Grayson he was smaller than him. Now he is fit and musculear as fuck. Ethan can feel his abs under his shirt from where he is holding onto him. And sitting behind him this close, Ethan can smell Grayson. He smells clean, like fresh peppermint gum and laundry detergent. Ethan thinks he smells the complete opposite. 

Probably like a sweaty hobo or stale potato chips or something. 

The bike hums from underneath them and Ethan cannot believe how much comfort he is feeling right now. They have been driving for about half an hour now and the sun is setting over the ocean. He can smell the fresh salt water from the ocean breeze and for the first time in a long time, he finally feels free. They come to a stop light and Ethan finds his eyes drooping. His grip around his brother loosens and luckily Grayson notices this because Ethan had literally fallen asleep from exhaustion. 

He grips Ethan’s hands in his left hand and drives to the closest motel nearby that is only three turns away. When he comes to a stop in the parking lot Grayson frowns when Ethan doesn’t wake up. He is going to kill whoever hurt his brother. Maneuvering around to face his sleepy twin and not let him fall face first on the pavement, Grayson somehow manages to get Ethan’s helmet off his head and put away in storage without dropping Ethan. 

“Hey, E. We made it to a motel and gotta check in now.” His voice is soft as he holds Ethan upright by his shoulder, his other hand is cupping Ethan’s cheek. He doesn’t move but mumbles some type of gibberish in his sleep. That’s when Grayson decides to just pick him up, he would have preferred piggy back style but that isn’t going to happen, so instead he carries Ethan like a child, with his legs around Grayson’s torso and his head resting on Grayson’s shoulder. Carrying Ethan felt as if he were actually holding a small child with how thin he is, and Grayson reminds himself to order the biggest plate of all you can eat pancakes for room service. 

Checking into the hotel was awkward as hell. The woman at the front desk kept eyeing Ethan suspiciously as if Grayson had been the one to beat him and this only pissed Grayson off. He wanted more than anything to just walk right out the door and find a different place to stay the night, but right now Ethan just needs to rest so Grayson just bites the inside of his cheek as she types in his credit card information with her long witch looking green nails. 

“Two queens or one king?” She asks, raising an unimpressed eyebrow at Grayson as if she already knows the answer. He wastes no time in giving her a bitch face in return. “Two queens.” He deadpans, adjusting his hold under Ethan’s bottom tugging him up a bit. “Oh and I would like an order of buttermilk pancakes delivered to the room.” 

“That will be 125.67 Mr.Dolan.” Her nasally voice responds as she prints out the receipt and hands Grayson their room key. “You will be staying in room 8G on floor number three, enjoy your stay at Heartwood hotel.” She says with no emotion whatsoever in her tone and Grayson doesn’t respond. He just makes his way to the elevator and presses the number sour button. Once the elevator doors close he rubs soothing circles on Ethan’s back and presses a small kiss to his cheek. 

By the time he made it into their cheap hotel room - well cheap looking that is. The price Grayson had paid to stay here will for sure burn a hole in their parents wallet. Ethan was still snoozing away. Grayson gently puts Ethan on the bed closest to the door before turning around to lock the door and head to the bathroom to start the tub. The hotel walls are covered in eighties floral print wallpaper, and the carpet in the room looks like it belongs in a skating rink. By the time the warm water filled the tub Grayson went back to get his brother who he thought was still sleeping, he almost jumped when he came back to find Ethan sitting up on the corner of the bed with tears in his eyes. 

When Ethan notices Grayson emerge from the bathroom he gasps and tries to blink away the tears feeling like an idiot. “Gray, I-I thought that you left me I didn’t know where you went and j-just panicked - “ He stumbles out his words, wiping his wet cheeks with his wrist. Grayson just shushes him, his own fresh tears pooling in his eyes as he rushes over to hold his twin. Finally in the comfort of these eighties wall papered walls they are able to be safe and comfortable without worrying about unwanted eyes. 

“I’m here, it’s okay. I won’t leave you, ever.” Grayson whispers, tears falling down his cheeks and landing on top of Ethan’s dark hair. They stay like that for a while, with Grayson standing between Ethan’s legs, his arms wrapped around Ethan’s shoulders as Ethan sits on the bed burying his face into Grayson’s warm soft shirt. Grayson starts to run his fingers through Ethan’s dirty hair, not even minding how greasy at all, and Ethan was about to fall back asleep until Grayson started talking. “I ran you a bath.” Ethan pulls away, looking at Grayson with wide fearful eyes. It took Grayson a second to realize why Ethan seemed so terrified of a bath, but then he put the two and two together. Ethan doesn’t want to be left alone.

“C-Can you - um, do you mind being in there with me?” Ethan asks, looking down at his toes feeling embarrassed to even ask this. He looks back up at Grayson and nearly panics when he sees the blush on Grayson’s cheeks. “I mean not like actually in the tub with me but like in the bathroom you know?” He chuckles, scratching the back of his neck, standing up but then realizing how close they are all the sudden. He knows he shouldn’t but he looks up and yup - not only is Grayson still taller than him but his lips are centimeters away from his own and now he is blushing along with his baby brother. 

A knock at their door makes them fly apart from one another. Ethan lands back on the bed and looks over to Grayson with scared helpless eyes wondering how the hell they found him, but then the voice behind the door speaks. “Room service!” The voice sounds latino, it is a woman. Sighing in relief, Ethan gives Grayson a small smile and points to the bathroom. “I’ll be in the bath.” Getting up on shaky legs he feels Grayson’s eyes on him as he heads into the bathroom. He feels scared and pathetic. Grayson never said a word about being in here with him and he is fucking eighteen years old, he should not be scared of bathing alone! 

“O-Okay. I’ll be there in a second just let me get the food.” Ethan stops, standing in the bathroom and turns around to with a soft smile on his lips as he watches Grayson answer the door not even looking at him. His heart flutters just being in the same room as his brother, never thinking he would see him again just a day ago. 

Stripping out of his ratty clothes quickly, Ethan dips his feet into the warm bath water before sliding all the way in with a soft moan. The warm water hugs around him like a blanket, he hasn’t felt this in years. He wonders how the water is still so warm from when Grayson had filled the tub, and he finds himself drifting back into a deep sleep. But then his eyes snap open when he smells it.

Pancakes.

Fresh warm pancakes.

He watches Grayson walk into the bathroom, a plate full of heaven in his hands and a cup of almond milk in the other, Ethan drools from the sight. “Here, you must be starving.” Completley forgetting he is butt ass naked in a tub infront of his brother, Ethan grabs the plate and goes to town, moaning from how fucking amazing this tastes. “Holy fucking shit!” He groans through a mouth full of food and then looks over at Grayson to see him grinning. Grayson hands him his glass of milk and Ethan happily takes it, chugging the whole glass in seconds. It wasn’t until he was finished with his food did Ethan realize something. 

“Oh fuck Gray, did you want some of that?” He freezes, looking at his twin with innocent eyes, feeling like a selfish piece of shit. Grayson just laughs, using the big cup at the foot of the tub to fill it with the warm water Ethan is sitting in and dumps it over Ethan’s head. “I got the pancakes for you, so no I didn’t want any of it.” Ethan instantly feels a weight lifted off his shoulders after hearing that, and he sat there in the tub letting Grayson rub some strawberry scented shampoo in his hair. “Okay, good.” Ethan whispers in response, feeling himself getting lost under Grayson’s touch. 

It has been so long since someone else has touched him softly like this with caring hands. Normally the usual human contact he’d get was the complete opposite. He hated people touching him and he is sure he doesn’t even want his own sister to touch him in general right now, it will take time for him to be comfortable around other people. But not Grayson, he is different. 

By the time Grayson finished washing Ethan’s hair, Ethan opened his eyes to see Grayson eyeing his skinny bruised frame with a frown on his face making Ethan feel insecure under his gaze. He reaches out and grabs onto Grayson’s hand, playing with his fingers before looking back up at Grayson. “What happened, E?” His voice is soft and gentle, almost as if he was speaking to a child.

Ethan sighed, not wanting to talk about what happened, not wanting to relive any of those memories. But it’s better to tell Grayson than some random stranger physiatrist lady that his parents might force him to see so he decides to start from the very beginning. 

“That day we were at the carnival and we separated before going to the bumper cars, I did that on purpose. I only did that because I knew someone was following us. I thought it was someone from school, like Jake or something and I didn’t want you to get hurt, or even to be involved for the matter.” Ethan frowns, continuing to play with Grayson’s tan fingers, trying to busy himself so he doesn’t look at his twins sad eyes. “So I watched you walk off and make it safely to where mom, dad and Cameron were. After looking around and not recognizing anyone I decided to just go in and pee like I told you I would. But when I came out it was like all hell broke loose.” 

Grayson intertwined his fingers with Ethan and gives his hand a squeeze making Ethan hold onto his hand in return. Him speaking about the worst day of their lives brings back memories of people running away scared. Of him trying to shove his way through to get to his brother. 

“The second I left the porta potty there was a man waiting there for me, pointing a gun at my forehead. I don’t remember much after that because he hit me in the head with it, hard enough to leave a scar and knock me out cold.” Grayson uses his free hand to brush back the wet strands of hair sticking to his brothers temple, and sure enough there is a small scar right above his eyebrow. He runs his thumb over it feeling the slight bump, and feeling so many different emotions at once ran over him sending chills down his spine. 

“I ran after you.” His voice cracks when he speaks and his eyes fill up with tears as he looks at his brother. “I never stopped looking for you even when everyone else did.” 

Ethan gave him a small smile, bringing their hands to his lips and breathing in Grayson’s comforting scent again. “I know.” He smiles, his voice is slightly deeper than it was when they were sixteen. Grayson feels like he has to relearn everything about Ethan all over again. “How’d you know I was looking for you?” He asks, and Ethan acts as if he doesn’t hear the question at all and brushes over it. 

“When I woke up I was in some type of lab strapped down on a table, to this day I still have no clue where exactly they kept me held back then. But all I know is they were pissed.” His eyes flicked back up to Grayson’s and for a second Grayson swears he saw those brown eyes turn green. 

“Why were they so angry?” Grayson whispers.

“They were pissed because they had grabbed the wrong twin.” Ethan looks at him, his knees pressed against his chest in the tub, the water is probably cold by now. Grayson’s heart rate picks up after hearing this and his ears begin to ring. He shakes his head, blinking in confusion even though he knows what Ethan means, he just doesn’t understand why, so Ethan explains it better for him. 

“They wanted you, Grayson.”


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ethan explains more of what happened while Grayson deals with his angry mother on the phone, then after convincing Ethan they head to their home.

“What do you mean they wanted me? Who are they?” Grayson asks, a puzzled expression on his face. 

Ethan sighed, letting go of Grayson’s hand to run his fingers through his wet hair and leaned his head back against the shower wall. He looks at Grayson with sad hestant eyes, almost as if he is afraid to tell Grayson what all had happened. He would much rather tell Grayson everything when he has clothes on and is all clean because suddenly he is very aware how naked he is at the moment. He is far from proud of his body. He knows he is extremely thin but that isn’t his fault. And he has more scars on his body than he can count on his fingers. His skin is ghostly pale compared to Grayson’s beautiful tan complection and this makes Ethan fold his arms across his chest and bring his knees close to his belly. 

“They call themselves El Monte Flores, its a group run by men. They had been watching us for years Grayson. Their leader wanted you specifically because - “ Ethan was interrupted by the sound of a cell phone ringing. He looks up at Grayson, gesturing for him to answer the call. Groaning, grayson slides his phone out of his jeans pocket and curses under his breath when his moms caller id pops up on the screen. “Shit, it’s mom.” 

“Don’t tell her you found me.” Ethan rushes out, as if he is scared of his own mother. Grayson gives Ethan a confused glance before holding his hands up for a second after he sees how worried Ethan is. “Okay - I won’t but I have to answer this still.” 

“Put it on speaker, I want to hear her voice.” 

Sliding the button to answer the call, Grayson was about to say hello but his mom cuts him off. “Grayson Bailey Dolan where the hell are you?!” Sighing, Grayson doesn’t even bother trying to speak because knowing his mom she won’t stop to listen until she is finished ranting. “I got a call from your principal today, he said you got in another fight during lunch and put another boy in the hospital!” Ethan’s eyebrows raise in shock at hearing this. He looks over at his twin brother who is glaring at his phone, wondering what else he is capable of. 

“Mom, it's not my fault he was -” Grayson tries to intervene but is once again cut off. “I don’t want to hear it! You do realize you are suspended right? You are lucky it was me Principle Byers called and not your father because he wanted to expel your ass! If it wasn’t for your straight A’s then you would be in deep shit.” 

Ethan is surprised at how much his mother is swearing, no matter how mad they used to make her she wouldn’t even let out a single cuss word. He wonders how different his parents and his sister are since he has been gone. But he can’t help the chills he gets just listening to her voice through the phone - only making him dread going back to the house. 

“Where even are you right now? You are out way past your curfew!” Lisa sounds like she is pulling her hair out strand by strand, she is pissed. Grayson rolls his eyes and wants more than anything to just hang up the phone. “I left school early -” 

“Oh I know. Principle Byers told me about you ditching. You know how bad that looks on your permanent record Grayson!” 

Ignoring her interrupting him AGAIN, Grayson talks louder over her nagging voice. “I left school early,” He repeats, much louder this time and Ethan can’t help the small smile on his lips at how sassy his twin has become. Grayson used to be terrified of getting scolded by their parents- but clearly that phase is done and over with. “I drove my bike around and didn’t notice how far I had gone, since it’s getting late, I decided to stay at a motel -” 

“What am I going to do with you?” Lisa grumbles on the other side of the phone. “You know how much money motels cost? Do you plan on paying me back for this random spontaneous trip?” She nags, clearly not planning on hanging up the phone anytime soon. 

“Mom, I am eighteen years old I think I can make desicons for myslef.I am fucking tired, it’s been a long ass day and I’m going to sleep now. We will talk about this tomorrow, goodnight.” Grayson hangs up the phone before their mom can let out another peep. 

Looking back up at his older brother, Ethan looks a little green. His eyelids are droopy and his frail arms are wrapped around his small chest. “You okay, E?” Grayson’s voice is much softer now, he scoots closer to the tub and Ethan flinches when Grayson’s hand touches his forehead, startled from his quick movements before leaning into the comforting touch. 

“Not used to eating that much food in one sitting, might’ve over did it - but fuck it was so worth it.” He gives Grayson a small smile, letting his eyes closed shut. 

Seeing that his brother needs to rest, and cursing his mother in his mind for interrupting their conversation, Grayson dips a soft rag into the water, squirts some vanilla scented soap on it before grabbing Ethan’s hand and pulling his arm up so he can wash his body. He was so concentrated on the task at hand, not wanting to hurt his brother to notice Ethan had opened his eyes and was now looking at him.

“I can bathe myself you know.” He slurs out, clearly half awake not even bothering to pull away from Grayson’s warm grasp. “Mhmm, I know. Just let me take care of you.” He says so softly and Ethan gets a weird fuzzy feeling in his belly from those soft words. It has been so long since someone has cared for him like this, so he just lets it happen. 

\---

Ethan doesn’t remember falling asleep, but suddenly he is being placed down on a mattress and is dry in clean clothes. He jolts awake before his body is completely on the bed - unaware of his surroundings. “Woah woah - it’s me Ethan, it’s okay you are safe!” Grayson’s worried voice automatically comforts Ethan. His strong hands are wrapped around Ethan’s fists and he looks up at his twin - Grayson looks worn out. He has bags under his eyes and his hair's a mess sticking up every which way from him tugging on it out of stress. 

“Where’d these clothes come from?” Ethan’s voice is raspy and full of sleep. He tugs at the baggy sweatshirt on his torso that is baby blue and really soft on the inside, then looks down at the sweatpants and socks covering his body. This is the most comfortable thing he has worn since he got kidnapped and he never wants to take this off. Usually the only clothes he’d be wearing is plain paper feeling boxers or some type of a hospital gown - or sometimes if he’s luckily a scratchy shirt. 

“I always have an extra pair of clothes in my backpack. Let’s just say this isn’t my first time ‘missing curfew’.” Grayson smiles sheepishly at Ethan before heading towards the opposite queen size bed near the window. Ethan watches him go feeling anxious. He was hoping they would share a bed, is that weird? Is it normal to want to sleep next to your eighteen year old twin brother? They used to share a bed all the time before he was kidnapped. 

“Goodnight Ethan, I love you bro.” Grayson yawns, tugging the covers over his bare torso and turns off the lamp in between their beds. “Goodnight Gray, I love you too.” Ethan whispers hugging his arms close to his chest. Ethan is to worried to make it known that he doesn’t want to sleep alone, so instead he closes his eyes and let sleep take him.

In the other queen bed, Grayson was having a difficult time falling asleep, about an hour has past since they have gone to bed and Grayson couldn’t get his brain to shut up. He feels like he wants to shower after everything Ethan was telling him making him feel gross. A group of men had been watching them for years?! They had taken Ethan when in reality it was him they wanted more? Grayson would have preferred it if they took him in Ethan’s place. Just knowing all of this makes him feel even more guilty. He felt something weird when Ethan didn’t want to share a bed with him tonight. It makes him feel like he finally has Ethan back but yet he still feels so far away. 

“N - NO!” Ethan shouts making Grayson nearly fell out of bed from jumping so hard. “Stop! P-Please!” He can faintly see Ethan thrashing around under the covers, clearly having a nightmare. “I can’t do it! I-I’m not like him -” Grayson hurries over to Ethan’s bed and wastes no time trying to wake him gently so he doesn’t startle him. “Don’t make me d-do this, please!!” Tears are falling down Ethan’s cheeks uncontrollably now, and it sounds more like he is reliving through something than just having a nightmare at this point. 

“Ethan, wake up man! It is just a dream! You are okay.” Grayson wiggles Ethan gently, but he doesn’t even move. “E! Wake up!” Grayson cups his cheeks in his hands, seeing Ethan so distraught is really starting to scare Grayson, he has never seen Ethan act this way. 

Suddenly Ethan’s eyes shoot wide open, but they aren't their usual brown - instead they are glowing green. But just as fast as Grayson saw them, Ethan blinks and they are back to brown like it never happened. Shaking his head Grayson blinks in confusion and decides to bring it up later because Ethan is still panicking. “Hey, it’s alright. It was just a dream.” Ethan finally notices Grayson and doesn’t hesitate to sit up and fall into Grayson’s arms. 

“I wish it was just a dream.” He whispers sadly. “I’m a bad person Grayson. You don’t know the things i’ve done to people. You shouldn't even be near me, I don’t wanna hurt you too.” 

Holding Ethan closer to his chest, Grayson shakes his head. “I don’t care. None of that matters. I finally have you back and nothing and no one will ever take you away from me again, you hear me?” Grayson’s voice is firm, and he has one hand on the back of Ethan’s head holding onto him tight as he cries on his shoulder. Ethan just nods his head in response. 

“C-Can I sleep in your bed with you?” Ethan’s voice is so small that Grayson hardly even heard it. Pressing his lips to the top of Ethan’s moppy hair, Grayson grips his cheek and tugs him off his chest. “C’mon, lets get some sleep.” Ethan clings onto Grayson’s hand, not wanting him to get too far away and they head over to Grayson’s bed climbing under the covers together. Grayson doesn’t hesitate to pull Ethan on his chest as they tangle their legs together under the sheets. They cling together, their warmth radiating off of one another making Grayson’s eyes droop shut. 

“Love you.” Ethan mumbles out before he starts to snore softly on top of Grayson, making him smile and ran his fingers through Ethan’s hair. “Love you more.” Grayson whispers back even though he knows Ethan can’t hear him since he is sleeping already. With his big brother here safe in his arms, Grayson falls asleep instantly. 

\-----

By the time morning came around and Grayson woke to a million missed calls and text messages from his parents Grayson decided it was time to stop being selfish and bring Ethan home. It was weird though when he woke Ethan and told him they need to go because Ethan seemed scared. He was acting like their parents would hurt him - like he was afraid to go back. He kept telling Grayson ‘it’s not safe’ but eventually caved in when Grayson played one of the voice mails their father left Grayson about him being worried sick.

So by the time they checked out of the motel and were back on the Harley with Ethan holding onto Grayson tight. Ethan was not happy about going back home, that was the last place he wants to be - but that’s where Grayson needs to go right now and Ethan will go wherever Grayson does because there is no way in hell he is leaving his brothers side. He needs to protect his twin. 

The motel they were staying at was only a ten minute drive away from the house and before they know it they are pulling up on the street. The house still looks like a spitting image of how it did three years ago when Ethan last saw it, the only difference now is that the grass is a little greenier. Ethan fists Grayson’s shirt tight, wanting to be anywhere else but here. He isn’t even sure he can look his parents in the eye let alone trust them. But he has to act like nothing is wrong, like he doesn’t know the truth. 

The twins hop off the bike and Ethan speeds up to his brothers side clinging onto him, wrapping his fingers in Grayson’s making the younger boy look at him with soft eyes. “Gray, I don’t want to go inside.” He looks up at him with his big brown eyes, the look alone making Grayson second guess everything. He places his hand on Ethan’s arm and was about to open his mouth but then the front door bursts wide open. “Grayson Bailey Dolan do you know how worried sick - “ Lisa barks making her way down their stoned path but freezes in dead in her tracks when her eyes land on her oldest son making her gasp. 

“Ethan?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's going slow, but I promise these next few chapters will be better :)


	4. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ethan unites with his mother, but Grayson notices how weird his mom and Ethan are acting towards one another. When he confronts Ethan about it they decide to do something crazy that will change everything.

“Oh my god.” Lisa cries. She has Ethan in a tight hug, but Ethan isn’t returning it. His arms are stiff as a board almost as if he doesn’t know what to do with them. He looks at Grayson with panicked eyes, pleading for help like he is afraid their mom bites. 

“M-Mom,” Grayson stutters, unsure as to what the problem is exactly but takes a step towards them anyway. Ethan looks extremely uncomfortable hugging his own mother and alarms are blaring off inside Grayson’s head from the sight. “That is enough mom don’t suffocate him!” Grayson raises his voice, beginning to feel overprotective of his twin not wanting him to feel too pressured or overwhelmed. Apparently though their mom did not like Grayson saying this. 

She tugs Ethan closer to her and holds onto his head placing Ethan’s cheek on her shoulder glaring at Grayson. “I haven't seen your brother in years god dammit!” She hisses, pulling him back into a hug. Grayson takes a hesitant step towards them, wanting nothing more than to wrip her arms off of Ethan, but Ethan takes matters into his own hands. Tugging away from her with a fake smile on his lips, Ethan gives her arm an awkward pat before returning to Grayson’s side, standing close enough for their shoulders to brush. “Hey mom.” He finally spoke, his tone is dull and he sounds far from excited to see his mother. 

She ushers them inside, a million questions bouncing off her lips, all of which seem to be freaking Ethan out. He slides his hand back into Grayson’s who happily tangles their fingers together tugging Ethan impossibly closer to his side. 

Grayson also has a million questions for Ethan, but he is smart enough to know you don’t just bombard someone who went through a traumatic experience enough to make them panic like this. Their mom doesn’t seem to get the hint though, she was worried sick wondering what happened to her son for years so in a way Grayson doesn’t blame her that much. 

What Grayson doesn’t understand though is why Ethan is acting so distant towards their mother. He seems off. Whatever happened to him must have really messed him up and made him fear being around or touched by other people. But if that’s the case then why isn’t Ethan scared of him? 

They go to the couches in the living room, Lisa continuing to drill questions into Ethan’s brain as she heads into the kitchen around the corner to get him a glass of water. Ethan has his head hung low, his eyes locked on their tan carpet under his shoes practically glaring at it. Grayson is sitting as close as possible to him, if he were to get any closer than he’d be sitting on his lap. Their hands are resting on Ethan’s thigh and Grayson can feel Ethan’s hand sweating in his own. 

“Who took you Ethan? Have you contacted the police yet? Where on earth did you find your brother Grayson? Someone please say something!” Lisa enters back in the living room, handing Ethan his cup of water that he seems hesitant to even touch. He gives her a tight smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes but doesn’t even bother taking a sip of the drink. 

“I found him on the other side of town, he had ran in the middle of the road and I almost ran him over with my bike.” Grayson eyes Ethan, then their mother. They are both acting off. It’s like they know something he doesn’t and he feels annoyed because of it. 

“Oh thank god you found him! Ethan sweetie, what happened?” Even her voice is off, it sounds like a pitch higher and almost fake. Clearing his throat, Ethan keeps his eyes locked on Lisa’s. “I don’t really feel like talking about it right now mom. It’s all to fresh and right now I'd really like to go in my room and lay down if that is okay with you.” 

Lisa gets up from her seat, and Ethan tenses gripping Grayson’s hand tighter. She presses a kiss to Ethan’s forehead. “Okay Ethan, that is fine. Go rest up and we will talk about this later. I’ll get you boys when lunch is ready.” Ethan was gripping Grayson’s hand so hard that he lost feeling in it. “Thanks.” Ethan nearly sprints up the stairs with Grayson by his side, leaving the glass of water behind. 

“Oh and Grayson, don’t think I forgot about what happened at school yesterday!” She shouts making Grayson roll his eyes in annoyance. By the time they get into their shared room Ethan lets go of Grayson and closes the bedroom door locking it behind them sighing. 

“Okay Ethan, I don’t want to pressure you but I need to know what the hell just happened down there.” He crosses his arms over his chest watching Ethan turn around to face him and his eyes widen slightly at the stern look on Ethan’s face. He heads to his side of the room, opening his dresser drawer finding all his clothes inside just how he left them and starts tossing them onto his neatly made bed. “I was right.” He mumbled to himself, grabbing his old backpack and throwing that on the bed as well. 

“We can’t trust them Grayson, we have to get out of here now!” He shakes his head continuing to throw clothes into his pile. He then moves to his sock drawer, grabbing out a pair of american flag socks and flipping them inside out. Hundreds of dollars fall out of the sock and onto the floor and he feels a little bit of pride knowing no one found his secret money stash. His can feel his eyes glowing green and tries to control it - to control himself. But with everything going on right now it is making it hard. “We have to get out of here before Sean gets back from work.” 

“Why? What is going on?! Please Ethan, just tell me what is happening.” Grayson grabs Ethan’s hand and cups his cheek making Ethan shut his eyes tight. Grayson touching him does all kinds of things to him. Taking a deep breath he feels himself calming down a bit under Grayson’s comforting touch. Opening his eyes he sees just how close they are standing and thanks god his eyes are back to their natural color. 

“I can’t. Not here at least.” 

Grayson releases his hold on Ethan and he misses the contact immediately, wanting nothing more than to reach back out and hold Grayson. Rubbing his thumbs against his closed eyes, Grayson sighed. “Well then, where are you going?” He asked, his voice full of hurt. 

“Vegas.” Ethan replies starring at Grayson who still isn’t looking at him, he is rubbing his eyes so hard. Blinking out the fuzzies in his eyes and trying to ignore the stinging in his feeling in them, Grayson notices his twin is one hundred percent serious about this. “Why Vegas?” 

“Well i’m just going there to go to the airport, it would be way too risky to go to the airport here in LA, then I’ll be going to Australia and i’m not coming back.” He resumes packing up his belongings when Grayson doesn’t respond, feeling hurt and a little disappointed that Grayson doesn’t want to go with him. If Grayson isn’t coming with him then he is just going to have to suck it up and leave without him no matter how bad it kills him to do it. Him being here is a danger for Grayson, he was safer without him here. 

Suddenly something warm is pressed against his back and arms wrap around his torso. He feels his shoulder getting damp and wet as Grayson cries on him. “Please don’t go. I-I just got you back.” He hiccups. Ethan turns around grabbing Grayson by the shoulders watching as the tears streaming down his face. “Come with me Grayson.” 

“But what about our f-family?” 

“We have to forget about them. They can’t know where we are going and if they find out we could get killed.” Grayson’s eyes widen at this, Ethan wipes the tears off his cheeks and turns around hading Grayson his own backpack. He eyes the bag for a minute, a million thoughts running through his mind. Ethan wants him to run away from everything he knows. His family, LA, their home. And the scary thing is that Grayson is actually thinking about going through with it. 

“Do you trust me?” Ethan asks, moving lower to get to Grayson’s eye level. Looking into those familiar brown eyes, there is no way Grayson can say no now. Reaching out slowly he grabs the backpack from Ethan’s hands. “Okay, but the second we are out of here you tell me everything.” Biting his cheek, Ethan mentally prepares himself for the worst, when the time comes to spill the beans, he has no choice really. 

“Deal.”

And with that the two continued packing everything they thought was worth bringing. Ethan found his old journal that has hidden underneath his mattress and stuffed it in his bag. Grayson shoved an old picture album he has, in it are only pictures of him and Ethan growing up together. He feels numb, packing away things like his cell phone charger and all his money. He won’t be able to talk to Cameron or his parents ever again. He can hear Ethan zipping up his backpack behind him and for a split second doesn’t know if he can trust his brother. 

After all he doesn’t even know what is going on or what bad things Ethan has said he’s done. He could have killed people for all Grayson knows.

A warm hand slides on his hip, Ethan is standing directly behind him now making Grayson’s breath catch in his throat. “I know you are second guessing all of this and that you are probably having a hard time trusting me - I don’t blame you. If I were you I wouldn’t trust me. I’m dangerous Gray, but I won’t hurt you. Staying here will get you killed though and it will be all because you brought me home. I would let you stay if I knew you’d live a happy life - alive. But they will kill you.” Both his hands are planted on Grayson’s hips now and Grayson feels hot under his touch. All he can do is nod in response to this and he blushes when he feels Ethan’s warm soft lips press against his cheek. 

“C’mon, let’s go out the window like we used to when we’d sneak out.” Ethan’s warmth disappears when he walks over to the window, quietly opening it so Lisa doesn’t hear them. Grayson finds himself missing Ethan’s warmth and hurries over to his side wanting to hold his hand again - but he doesn’t. They are busy trying to run away, it's not the time to cling onto each other!

Ethan slips out the window first, and doesn’t even bother to take his time climbing off the roof down to their driveway. Grayson was halfway out the window when he turned around to get one last look at their bedroom. Tears pool in his eyes as all the memories come flooding back at once.

Them moving in when they were only five years old - back then they had their toys in place where their tv is now. Or when ever they would hide from Cameron in their closet after pulling pranks on her, holding onto one another tight trying to not laugh. In fifth grade when they had managed to actually get one of their friends to sleep over - Ethan and Grayson shared a bed so their friend didn’t have to sleep on the floor. He remembers making blanket forts and wrestling, snuggling close together during lightning storms at night, protecting each other from nightmares. And as teenagers things hardly changed. 

They got their own television and would play super smash bros on it. They would do their homework together on Ethan’s bed, Ethan would help Grayson with english and Grayson would help Ethan with math. The night they couldn’t find dates to prom in time so they decided to just go together as each other's date. Grayson remembers the two of them getting ready in this room - laughing about how they have to share a slow dance together, and they did - more than one dance to. The night Grayson came out to Ethan and told him he was bi. And then memories here without Ethan, the ones he won’t miss and would rather not remember. 

Coming home the day Ethan went missing, sleeping in Ethan’s bed. Locking himself in here for days and refusing to come out. He remembers one night in particular when it all became too much to handle. He remembers being in the bathroom and holding a bottle of pills in his hand sobbing. He was going to do it - because life without Ethan was not a life he wanted to live. But sitting on the bathroom floor, a pile of pills that would for sure do the trick in his palm, he realized something. Ethan had to be alive - and if Grayson killed himself then he’d for sure never see those big brown eyes again. 

“You good, Gray?” Ethan whisper yells from the driveway, looking up at Grayson with worried eyes. “Y-Yeah, I’m fine.” Grayson gives his brother a small smile before hopping out the window and shutting it closed behind him. He makes his way down the house and gets flashbacks of them sneaking out to go to parties or to just get away from their family in the middle of the night back when they were sophomores. 

He was almost at the bottom when he feels Ethan’s hands on his hips guiding him to the ground. He ignores the pink on his cheeks from his touch and lands safely next to Ethan. “Okay we just need to load up my bike real quick because it will be safer to take the jeep all the way to Vegas.” Grayson whispers, hurrying to the side yard where the white jeep is parked. 

Ethan’s eyes light up at the memory of his old vehicle that he loved so much. “Wait - you guys kept the jeep?” He rushes over to the side of the house with his brother and grins when he sees his old baby, still looking brand new. He runs his fingertips along the white paint, noticing there isn’t even a scratch in sight. “Well yeah. Dad wanted to sell it for a while though since I wouldn’t let anyone but me drive it. Although I would only drive it once a week to make sure it still runs and to take care of it.” Grayson shrugs, working on getting his bike strapped onto the jeep safely so it won’t fall off, Ethan watches the way his arms flex when he lifts the heavy bike up high enough to strap it in. 

“Can I drive?” Ethan asked. His tone full of hope and excitement.

“Yeah, why not? Just don’t kill us.” Grayson smiles, tightening the last strap and tossing Ethan his old vans lanyard with the jeep keys on it. Ethan full on grins, rushing over to Grayson to wrap him in a hug and press a sloppy kiss to his cheek. “Thank you!” He beams before hopping in the drivers side. His smile is contagious and Grayson finds himself wanting nothing more than to make his brother happy like this again because he missed that boyish smile on his face. He climbs in the passenger seat and buckles up before Ethan puts the car in drive and makes their way to Las Vegas.


	5. Chapter Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ethan explains everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two updates in one day! Am I trying to get this fic done before I start working? Yes. Am I writing like a maniac before lose interest? Yes.

“So why are we running away from our family exactly?” Grayson asked. He has his black high top converse kicked off on the floor of the jeep. He had been on this drive countless of times, they have some cousins that live in Nevada that they’d visit once a year during summer time. If you like plain dry desert than this four hour drive is for you - and if you are lucky you’ll get stuck in traffic making the drive even longer! 

Ethan sighed, his eyes fixed on the road in front of them. Grayson almost feels bad for dampening Ethan’s happy mood by bringing up the topic, but at this point the fact that Grayson has no fucking clue what the hell is going on is driving him mad. “Okay, here is how this is going to work. I’m going to talk, and then you are going to listen. Got it?” Ethan flicks his eyes to Grayson, his tone reminding him of a parent about to lecture their child for throwing rocks in their neighbors pool or something. 

“Got it.” 

“Our parents are not our real parents.” Ethan clutches the steering wheel tight, his gaze is locked on the road. He feels like he is telling his little brother santa isn’t real - or the way babies are made is by sticking your big boy parts in a girls pepe. Ethan feels like Grayson shouldn’t be burdened at all by this, but Grayson is eighteen and not five, he deserves to know. “Right after we were born our real parents were killed. People were afraid of them, they were being hunted down and somehow managed to stay hidden without getting taken away. But their luck ran short and right after our real mom gave birth to us El Monte Flores took advantage of mom being weak and murdered her. Dad fought back but seeing mom die in front of him destroyed him and they got him to.” 

“W-Wait.. Then who the hell raised us then?” Grayson interrupts, clearly having a difficult time processing all of this. Ethan gives him a small glare for interrupting when he promised he wouldn’t, but decides to let the slip up slide. 

“The people who raised us are the ones who are responsible for our real parents death.” 

Grayson shakes his head in denial. None of this makes any sense. How does Ethan even know all of this anyway? Nothing seems to be matching up and he feels himself beginning to panic. “Hey,” Ethan reaches out, grabbing Grayson’s hand off of his thigh and holding onto it. This seems to help ease Grayson’s mind enough to get him to breath properly - for now at least. “I can stop if you want me to, I know it’s a lot to take in.” 

“N-No, it’s fine I can handle it. Keep going.” 

Bringing their clasped hands to his lips, Ethan kisses Grayson’s knuckles and Grayson cannot remember when they became super touchy feely towards one another like this. They used to sleep in the same bed a lot or sit close to each other on the couch but they have never hugged let alone kissed each other like this. Hugs used to be more on the random side and kisses were rare and non existant. Not that Grayson is complaining by any means though, he secretly loves it when Ethan’s attention is on him. 

“I don’t know what our fake parents real names are, but I know they stole our parents identities and go by our real parents names.” Ethan runs his thumb soothingly over Grayson’s as he speaks. “I only know this because Sean was one of the main guys that would experiment on me.” Grayson grips onto Ethan’s hand tighter, suddenly any nice memory he had with his ‘parents’ are gone. “I was confused when I first saw him and thought he was there to save me, but he wasn’t. He told me everything thinking I’d die before I’d get the chance to tell anyone else. I wasn’t sure if Lisa was apart of it either, not until we got back to the house that is.” 

“How’d you figure it out?” Grayson whispers. Ethan hesitates to answer this one, not quite sure on how he should respond to this. But he did promise Grayson he’d come clean so he decided fuck it and to just go for it. 

“Well other than it being obvious by her actions - I read her mind.” 

Grayson blinks at Ethan. He doesn’t know whether he should laugh or not but Ethan was completely serious. His tone didn’t have a speck of humor in it at all. “Uh, you read her mind?” He asks, repeating Ethan’s sentence as if he is testing the way it sounds on his tongue. 

“Yes.” 

“I’m sorry - how long have you been able to read minds for exactly?” Grayson clearly doesn’t believe him. He would still be thinking all this is some kind of joke but Ethan still isn’t laughing. “Three years. When I got kidnapped they taught me how to use my gifts that I didn’t even know I had.” 

“Gifts as in plural? You can do more than just read minds?” Grayson deadpans, and Ethan finds himself getting irritated by his tone. He is being one hundred percent serious right now talking about a touchy subject he’d rather just dust under the rug and Grayson is acting like a child. “Can you read my mind right now?” 

“No. I can’t read your mind. For some reason it’s like there is a wall I can’t seem to get over with you. But with everyone else it’s easy.” He responds quick, sounding so sure of himself making Grayson feel like maybe his twin kinda lost it. Ethan actually thinks he has powers like Edward Cullen. “Okay Ethan. This isn’t funny anymore quit joking with me.” He chuckles awkwardly and Ethan turns his head to look at him - his eyes glowing bright emerald green making Grayson gasp. “I’m not fucking joking Grayson.” He snaps raising his voice making Grayson jump yanking his hand away from Ethan’s as if it burnt him. 

Ethan immediately feels guilty. The last thing he wants is to have his twin be scared of him. Blinking, his eyes switch back to their normal color and Grayson looks at Ethan like he has two heads. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you like that. There is just so much shit going on right now and you were acting like I was making it all up and I kinda lost it.” Ethan apologizes, missing Grayson’s warm hand in his own. 

Grayson eyes his twin suspiciously. He wonders if all of that was even real that just happened or if this is some weird ass dream. Weather it’s a dream or not he knows he believes Ethan has some type of power though because you can’t just change your eye color like danny phantom does unless Ethan has some super expensive fancy ass contacts in that you control with a remote. “It’s alright.” He finally squeeks out in response, feeling like an ass for upsetting Ethan. “So they took you because you can read minds?” He asks, wanting to know the rest of the story so it can make more sense.

“Yeah basically. Our fake parents must have planned the whole thing at the carnival and set it up. The place they took me to, they did all kinds of shit to me there. They made me unlock my abilities - “

“Like a video game?” Grayson interrupts, his comment making Ethan snort. 

“Yeah, like a video game I guess. But after that they wanted to figure out everything I am capable of. They trained me to because once you unlock your gifts, it can be hard to control them. I wasn’t the only kid that was in that hell though, there are others like me. They have a whole army of us.” Ethan’s knuckles turn white from gripping the steering wheel so hard. “I was lucky and got out.” 

“Hey E? The other day you told me that the day of the carnival they wanted me instead of you. But I don’t have any magic type shit so why would they want me?” He asks, hie eyebrows pinched together in confusion. 

“Our real parents both had magic, Gray. When ever we’d get out blood drawn as kids, the ‘doctors’ that our ‘parents’ took us too would use our blood and test to see if we had the same gene as our real parents. My results came back for 89 percent, and your results came back 95 percent. The average percentile of this gene in kids is 25 percent Grayson.” Grayson’s palms sweat and his heart rate picks up. This is crazy. This can’t possibly be happening right now. 

“We haven’t unlocked your abilities yet Gray, but you are supposed to be the most powerful of us all.”

“Why didn’t they just bring me in with you then?! They had a chance to every fucking day!” He raises his voice, his blood feels like it’s boiling and his head feels like it’s going to burst from all this information. “I don’t know. I am just fucking glad they didn’t bring you to me because I don’t want you to ever live through what I did.” Ethan places his hand on Grayson’s thigh giving it a comforting squeeze before bringing his hand back on the wheel. 

They are quiet for a while after this. Music plays softly in the background as Ethan drives through Barstow slowly getting closer to Vegas. Grayson has his head resting on the window as he watches cacti zoom by and tumbleweeds roll across the dark road lit by the jeep headlights. He isn’t sure he will be able to function properly on a cramped up plane for seventeen hours. He is already feeling claustrophobic enough being in this jeep. 

Pulling out his phone he quickly reserves them a hotel for the night since they don’t even have their plane tickets yet, he also books their expensive flight for the morning as well. 

He can’t believe his whole life has been a lie. He has never met his real parents and was raised by murderers. A million emotions run over him all at once. Tears roll down his cheeks and he leans his head back against the headrest wanting nothing more than to just sleep. His head throbs just thinking about him and Ethan being hunted down. He sees something move beside him and glances to see Ethan’s arm on the center console with his hand held out, not wasting another second Grayson laces their fingers together.

If you would have told him years ago he has magical powers, he would have been excited. But now it’s the complete opposite. What is the point of having abilities if people want to kill you for it and use you? 

“Just get some rest Gray, I’ll wake you when we get to Vegas.” Ethan’s says softly, glancing over to see his brother crying. This is exactly why he didn’t want Grayson to know. It doesn’t matter how different he might look or seem - Grayson always has had such a soft heart. Ethan feels like he broke apart of him and feels like shit from it. Luckily Grayson decided to go to sleep like Ethan suggested. His soft snores fill the jeep along with the radio. 

Ethan wanted to explain more about the situation - more about what he’s been through. But now is not the time. Grayson needs to adjust to all of this piece by piece. 

One day Ethan will explain the bad things he has done, but today is not that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, Ethan has magical powers and shit :3 cool stuff, I know.


	6. Chapter Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

“Grayson, wake up bud. We made it to Las Vegas.” Ethan’s soft voice wakes Grayson from his nap. Time after time by Cyndi Lauper is playing softly on the radio and for a second he doesn’t know where they are or what is going on. Lifting his head up, he winces slightly from the immediate pain shooting up his neck - don’t sleep with your head leaning on your own shoulder kids unless you wanna wake up with a fat kink in it. 

Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes Grayson looks up to see his twin driving, noticing how long his hair is getting, starting to curl over his ear. He wants to run his fingers through Ethan’s soft brown locks. He looks tired, but Grayson notices how Ethan’s brown eyes light up as he takes in the world around them. That is what makes Grayson look out his window. 

He’s been to Las Vegas plenty of times - but he will never get over how beautiful it is. It’s the city of lights, lit up so bright if you look up you cannot even see the stars. People are too crazy here for Grayson to actually want to live here - but he loves visiting every now and then because god it sure is beautiful. 

It then hits him why they are in Vegas, and everything Ethan had told him before he fell asleep floods back in his mind like a dam breaking. He doesn’t want to remember. 

“I booked us a hotel for tonight since there were no plane tickets left for Australia tonight.” His voice is low and still full of sleep. Ethan looks over at him, clearly not excited about having to stay in Vegas longer than he’d like to. “Okay. What hotel are we staying at?” Ethan grumbles. “The Bellagio.” 

“Grayson, you do know that The Bellagio is on of the most- “

“Expensive hotels on the strip, yes.” Grayson cuts him off, typing on his phone on maps the address to their hotel. “I used our fake parents credit card they got me so they are paying for it not us.” He shrugs, pressing the Go button so siri can read the directions to Ethan. “You did what?! You do realize they are skilled at hunting people down right?! It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know to look up credit card history payments to track someone down!” Ethan yells, freaking the fuck out. This outburst doesn’t surprise Grayson though, he saw it coming so it doesn’t even phase him. 

“Don’t worry, i’m not stupid. I also booked a hotel in New York, Utah and Alaska. Even got some rental cars paid for and reserved for when we ‘show up’ to get them and bought plane tickets to Hawaii for a round trip.” Grayson chuckles clicking his phone off. “We aren't going to any of those places though, why did you do that?” Ethan is still irritated and Grayson doesn’t understand why. 

“No shit. I did that to throw them off. That way we get somewhere to sleep for the night with a roof over our heads and we burn some money out of their bank account.” 

Ethan shakes his head grumbling something under his breath that Grayson decides to ignore. “Turn left on exit seventeen, then stay in the right lane.” Siri chirps and Ethan does as she says, getting off the freeway and turning onto the strip that is booming with tourists. The later it gets at night the more awake Vegas becomes. Driving down the busy road, Grayson spots show girls getting their photos taken with men, magicians doing tricks surrounded by a crowd, street performers, people drunk off their asses and a handful of homeless people. 

“No more buying shit with their card Grayson.” Ethan lectures, making a right into The Bellagio parking garage right as the Bellagio fountains are going off. He can hear the music blasting that the water is dancing to from inside the jeep and wants more than anything to run outside and watch it. 

“Okay fine.” Grayson grumbles. He knows Ethan is one hundred percent right about this, but he is stubborn and doesn’t like being told what to do so that is why he is being a whiny bitch about it. Plus he had just woken up from a nap so he’s a little groggy and can’t help it. “Fuck! That reminds me, we need to destroy your phone - like now. They probably chipped it!” They had parked on the highest level on the parking garage, Grayson was hopping out of the jeep when Ethan suddenly yanked his phone out of his hand, his eyes turned green glowing in the night sky for a second and Grayson watches with wide eyes when what looks like electricity comes directly from Ethan’s hand that he is holding the phone with and then - ZAP!

His phone is literally fried. Smoke is coming out of it. Grayson watches Ethan throw his destroyed phone like he is throwing a football - and runs to the wall of the parking garage as it lands directly in the pool where the fountain show is. Starring in shock (literally) at what had just happened, he whips around to see Ethan grabbing their backpacks out of the backseat of the jeep. “ETHAN!” 

***** ***** **** **** ***** ***** **** ***** ****** **** ****** **** *** ******* ****** ****** **** **** **** **

Plopping onto their California king size bed in the master’s suite, Ethan lays flat on his back groaning when he lands on the soft memory foam mattress. Okay, maybe Grayson booking this hotel was for the better. Grayson plops down next to him, handing him his own tray of in n out that they had postmates to the hotel. In the past few days Ethan has noticed a few different things about his twin. 

He is dairy free, is obsessed with working out, and talks about furniture a lot. Apparently while Ethan was gone Grayson learned his skin is more clear and his tummy hurts less without the dairy in his life. He also learned that he is addicted to being as healthy as possible, and found a hobby in building things. 

“Not kidding, I made mom a jewelry box for Christmas and I think she used it for one of our late night fires we’d have in the backyard because I haven’t seen it since. It took me weeks to get that thing done and designed!” He grumbles, dipping his french fry in ketchup before tossing it in his mouth. His dangly wing earring swaying as he does so. Ethan knows he is being light hearted about this story but can’t help the anger he feels towards his evil fake parents. They have literally made his life a living hell and he wants them dead. 

“If that was our real mom, she would have loved a handcrafted jewelry box made from you Gray.” Ethan practically growls. He can feel his eyes are green right now - this happens a lot when he is angry or annoyed, still hasn’t quite mastered controlling them yet. Grayson seems to notice this and Ethan can tell he still doesn’t know how to act when it comes to seeing this side of him. “I bet she would’ve.” He says with a soft voice. 

Ethan feels his anger subside as he eats his dinner trying to take it slow not wanting to upset his stomach. Food is fucking amazing and he will never take eating for granted ever again. His burger tastes like heaven on his tongue sending his taste buds into a frenzy. They ate in a comfortable silence, Ethan finishing his meal way before Grayson. Not noticing Grayson hardly even eating his food and tossing half of it in the trash, or the gloomy look on his twins face. Ethan decided to rest his eyes for a bit as Grayson finished eating, for once in his life not bothering hearing his brother chew his food. It would have grossed him out if it were anyone else - but this is Grayson, so he doesn’t mind. 

He was dozing off into dreamland when he felt the bed dip - hearing bare feet padding away making his eyes open just in time to see the bathroom door close. He hates the anxious feeling he gets whenever Grayson is even in the other room away from him. It just feels wrong. He knows it’s not healthy to be this attached to someone - but he cannot help it at this point. He knows a big part of it has something to do with their powers - that being close to one another must strengthen them somehow because the further away Grayson gets the more off Ethan feels. 

When Grayson comes out of the bathroom he had apparently changed out of his sweats and is now wearing some tight fitted black jeans, a gucci belt around his hips and a plain white shirt tucked in with his hair swooped just right, Ethan sits up. Grayson looks really nice. 

“Thanks.” Grayson blushes, turning around to his backpack and pulling out his cologne to spray it on him. Ethan’s face turns bright red, he did not mean to say that outloud but oh well. “Wait, where are you going?” He asks, hating that he has turned into an overprotective soccer mom with six kids. Picking up Ethan’s backpack, he tosses it to him, a smirk planted on his lips.

“We, are going clubbing. Now get changed.” Ethan was about to protest but suddenly Grayson is directly in front of him holding his chin in his hand standing between his legs. “Nope. Nuh uh. I don’t want to hear it. Tonight we are just normal people. We are going to get fucked weather it’s by someone or by drinks and we are going to have some fucking fun! Got it?” Grayson’s so close to him it’s practically fogging up his brain making him unable to think properly, let alone form words. Grayson is looking at him with firm eyes making it nearly impossible to say no, dominance is rolling off of him in waves. So, with wide eyes Ethan nods his head in agreement.

Tapping Ethan’s cheek lightly Grayson smiles. “Good boy, now hurry up I wanna get shitfaced so badly.” Ignoring the butterflies in his belly from Grayson’s praise, Ethan takes a deep breath finally able to breath with Grayson a good distance away from him now. He makes his way into the bathroom with his backpack to get changed and use the toilet. “We only get to be out for an hour.” He says before shutting the door behind him.

“An hour and a half!” He hears Grayson shout through the door making him smile sheepishly and shake his head at his brothers goofiness. 

****** ***** ******** **** ******* **** ********* **** ****** ************ *** ******** ******* **** *********

Somehow they managed to get into a club without needing to show their ID cards. Maybe because they look like they are at least twenty two? Who knows. The whole walk to the club Ethan wanted to hold onto his brother in some type of way - feeling his nerves eat at him being surrounded by all these people crowding the sidewalks was giving him flashbacks to the carnival when he’d gotten taken away. 

Too much people.

Too many eyes on them. 

Too many other people’s thoughts in his head. 

Grayson must have noticed somehow, or maybe Ethan was walking to slow - but the warm hand gripping his wrist soothes Ethan’s anxiety long enough to get them into the club that is packed. People everywhere. Most are on the dance floor dancing sexually to the loud raging music you could hear a block away from here. Ethan slides his hand into Grayson’s now that they are off the street and no one can give them weird looks since everyone in here is too drunk out of their mind or high from the hookah lounge in here. 

Walking as if he’s been here before, Grayson guided Ethan by his hand in the direction to the bar making Ethan wonder if this isn’t his first time here. Watching these people grinding on each other makes Ethan blush and move his gaze to his shoes. It’s kind of embarrassing that at eighteen he is still an extra virgin. The farthest he has ever gone with someone is making out becuase as a sophmore in high school he decided he wanted to wait until he was older with a steady girlfriend to have sex. 

Of course after a while once he’d gotten kidnapped he scolded himself in his mind for not taking the many chances when he had it. But he felt like he was losing his mind in there and was never going to see the sunlight ever again - so at least now he has an opportunity to get fucked like Grayson was saying earlier. He isn’t too sure about sex right now though, or anytime soon for the matter. Just seeing these people dry humping in public is enough to make him feel like he is on the verge of an anxiety attack. 

He wonders if Grayson has ever you know, done it with someone. Just looking at his twin there is no fucking way he is still a virgin. He is all tan skin, big arms, drives a sexy motorcycle. Grayson is literally sex on legs - not that Ethan would ever dare tell him that or say it outloud. He’s be shocked if Grayson was still a virgin. 

Suddenly a drink is being shoved into his peripheral vision and he follows the tan arm up to Grayson’s smug face. “Drink up.” Taking the shot glass out of his hand, he eyes the familiar liquid inside and all the second thoughts he has are going wild in his mind. Getting drunk while still having a hard time controlling yourself - your powers - is not the smartest idea. Grayson tosses his head back and swallows the alchol like a fucking pro, and Ethan finds something burried deep inside of him resurficing. He can’t help but feel like Grayson is challenging him. Squinting his eyes at his brother, Ethan lets competitiveness take over and he tries to do the exact same but coughs from the burning sensation of the liquor down his throat making Grayson laugh and pat his back supportively. 

They down a couple more shots, Grayson definitely drinking more than Ethan - he had stopped at three shots because he doesn’t trust himself and also because he was feeling buzzed. A different song pops on, and Grayson lights up grabbing Ethan’s hand dragging him towards the dance floor. “I fucking love this song! Remind me to show you some Tame Impala later Etee!” He shouts over the music, and for some reason Ethan finds himself giggling in response. “Okie dokie Gray!” He knows he is drunk, but with the tinging sensation running up his arm from where their hands are connected, and the weight lifted off his shoulders - Ethan decides he doesn’t give a flying fuck right now.

The dance floor seems even more crowded now, but all the previous anxiety has faded especially since Grayson is by his side - well more like pressed in front of him along with other bodies squished against his shoulders as they all jump along to the music with their fists raised in the air. He can hear Grayson scream-singing along with the song completely off tune and starts busting up laughing at the sound. 

Ethan feels lighter than he has in years, dancing around like an idiot with his brother being one hundred percent free. Suddenly the song changes - everyone around them grabs a partner as the bass surrounds them making Ethan feel like the ground is moving beneath his feet and makes his hair vibrate. Grayson is facing him now with an unreadable expression on his face, Ethan suddenly realizes that they are the only ones not dancing with a partner and wants to head back over to the bar not wanting to grind on some stranger. Luckily Grayson seems to have the same idea and grabs Ethan’s hand, but instead of walking away he tugs Ethan closer in to him and puts Ethan’s hands on his hips slowly almost as if asking permission. 

Maybe it is because he is drunk or just because it’s Grayson. Ethan doesn’t even think about it and grips Grayson by the hips, he gasps when Grayson’s ass rubs against his crotch like he’s done this before. His hands tighten on Grayson’s hips from the friction. It’s no secret Grayson has a big ass, before he got taken away he’d always find his eyes lingering on Grayson’s back side longer than they should have been. He’d smack Grayson’s butt a lot to as a joke, but it was mostly just an excuse to touch his ass. And now that Grayson is in front of him, rocking his hips back against his dick, Ethan is having a hard time controlling himself. 

Grayson turns his head to look at Ethan over his shoulder with a goofy grin on his lips and that’s when Ethan realized that this is just for fun. It’s not serious. Seeing Grayson so carefree is what finally gets Ethan to let loose. 

They move together in unison. Even though Ethan is trying to be super chill and spunky like his twin he can’t fight the alcohol in his system making him only focus on Grayson’s ass against his hardening dick - which doesn’t even seem to be phasing Grayson at all. Ethan almost wines when Grayson pulls away from him, but suddenly he has one leg between Ethan’s and is now grinding on his leg and when Ethan feels something poke his leg he finds himself smirking when he realizes Grayson is hard to. 

“When’d you learn how to fucking dance like this?” Ethan slurs a little bit, and somehow Grayson hears him over the loud music but leans closer to Ethan’s face so he can hear him better. “Same time I bought the Harley.” His cheeks are pink, and Ethan’s hands find Grayson’s hips again making Grayson wrap his arms around Ethan’s neck bringing them even closer. Close enough to smell the alcohol on Grayson’s lips. 

Being this close to his brother, Ethan loves the way the disco lights flash across his face lighting him up in different colors making his eyes sparkle. Grayson is clearly drunk as hell - like himself, but yet he still looks so beautiful. His eyes flicker down to Grayson’s lips, that are similar to his own, and wants nothing more than to taste them. So without thinking - he does just that. 

Grayson surprisingly kisses him back right away as if he was expecting this to happen and their lips pull apart just to tug back together again. Grayson’s cups Ethan’s cheeks in his hands and takes control of the kiss, turning his head slightly he lets Ethan slide his tongue in his mouth feeling Ethan’s hands slide down to his ass he moans into the kiss. Ethan literally feels sparks between them, he feels like he can do anything with Grayson touching him like this and being so close to his brother. 

He doesn’t want this moment to end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you tell that I live in Vegas with how descriptive I got about it? LMAO


	7. Chapter Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day after, things get awkward...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started my new job this week and have been so mentally and physically drained that I could hardly stay awake writing this chapter. My writing schedule sadly will be random as hell now, so sorry guys. I don't know when my day off will be either so uh that complicates things a bit.

The first thing Grayson noticed was how fucking bad his head hurts. It feels like any second his brain is going to explode from how much it is throbbing. With his eyes still shut he moves to turn the other way but realizes he is trapped in place by a pair of strong arms around his torso. He must have gotten so drunk that he literally has no clue where he is or who he slept with last night. Blinking his eyes open trying not to be blinded by the sunrise blaring through the window, Grayson realizes he is in a fancy ass hotel. Definitely not one he could afford. 

He sees the clothes scattered along the floor recognizing the outfit he had put on last night and sees the solid black tee shirt next to it. Ethan had worn that one. His heart feels like it stops beating completly when reality hits him like a fucking truck in the face. 

He remembers dancing with Ethan last night and getting a bit too carried away with it even though they were just goofing off. He remembers how drunk he was and how badly he just wanted to forget everything. He was so sick to his stomach before they left the hotel last night because of how bad his anxiety has been after Ethan told him about their parents, and their ‘gifts’ as Ethan liked to call it that he could hardly even touch his in n out. Which says a lot because Grayson fucking loves to eat.

He remembers lips pressed against his own - Ethan’s lips - and how out of everything that has happened since he almost ran Ethan over with his bike that in that moment, finally everything felt right. He remembers how good it felt to have Ethan kissing him, and how hard Ethan was against his ass. 

Grayson’s face turns red at the thought of them sleeping together. They didn’t actually have sex right? He would have remembered if something like that happened. But he was pretty fucking out of it, the last thing he can remember is making out with his twin in the middle of a club. He doesn’t know how they made it back to the hotel or how his clothes got removed. 

He wishes he does. 

“Mmm.” Ethan hums in his sleep, tugging Grayson impossibly closer to his equally as naked body making Grayson’s breath catch in his throat. He feels like he is on the verge of a panic attack. It was him who kissed Ethan first after all, wasn’t it? Ethan just got rescued, he doesn’t need something like a one night stand or fucked feelings with the only person he trusts - his brother - to fuck it up! Grayson cannot imagine life without his twin again. Once was enough and he could barely live without him! 

Wiggling frantically, accidentally elbowing Ethan in the shoulder in the process, Grayson sqirms his way out of his older brothers grasp. “Ow, Where you goin?” Ethan wines, his voice full of sleep as he tries to pull Grayson back towards him. Grayson plops off the bed, and to his surprise he is in his boxers and not butt ass naked. Maybe they didn’t have sex last night…

“U - Uh, well it is 6:30 a-and we have to - “ His voice catches in his throat when Ethan’s eyes open. Grayson feels hot under his intense gaze and curses himself in his mind when he feels his cheeks heat up when he notices the colorful hickies on Ethan’s neck. Okay, maybe they did have sex? Or at least got each other off? 

“Um, we got a plane to catch. Remember?” He watches Ethan’s eyes trail up his body starting from his toes slowly all the way up to his eyes. It is hard to see it, but Ethan’s cheeks are also tinted a light pink. “You never told me what time our flight leaves.” Ethan yawns, hiding his blush with his hands before sitting up and stretching. Grayson can’t seem to control himself as he watches Ethan stretch, eyeing his bare torso and admiring his arms. It has only been three days and Ethan seems to slowly be gaining his weight back. 

“Oh yeah, our plane leaves at in an hour.” Grayson ignores his raging headache and starts to make his way into the bathroom, he swears he can feel Ethan’s eyes on his ass as he walks, he may or may not have swung his hips a bit just to give Ethan a show. 

“The Vegas airport sucks ass and the lines are long as hell so let’s leave in fifteen so we don’t miss our plane!” Ethan calls from the other side of the door. Grayson was too busy frozen in place looking at his own reflection in the mirror eyeing all the hickies on his own body to respond. There is no way they didn’t fuck last night. Does Ethan even remember what happened at all? There is no way he does because why would he be so chill about all of this? Biting his bottom lip, Grayson looks into his eyes having a conversation in his mind on weather or not to bring this up to Ethan or not. 

“Gray, did you hear me?” 

Grayson jumps being startled out of his own thoughts, and even though he really doesn’t know what Ethan said he replies with a simple ‘yes’ and decides to leave it to Ethan on weather or not they bring up the events that occurred last night. He just hopes not talking about it will strain their relationship and make things awkward between them if Ethan knows what they did together. 

By the time he gets out of the bathroom, Ethan is all dressed and has his own bag including Grayson’s all packed and ready to go. “Fucking finally.” He grumbles, throwing Grayson’s backpack to him - he barely even catches it before it hits the ground. “Bro I have the biggest hangover, hopefully I don’t puke on the plane.” 

“That makes two of us. Now hurry your ass up and get dressed so we don’t miss our flight.” 

By the time they make it to the airport and wait in the long line for security check, they make sure their vehicles are being transferred okay and by the time they make it to their terminal they are already loading passengers on the plane. Their seats were in the very back of the plane and there was a stranger sitting next to Grayson since he was in the middle of the row while Ethan got the window seat. Ethan’s eyes remained on the stranger next to Grayson a little longer than necessary, the man looked to be in his mid thirties and held a small bag on his lap. Grayson’s eyes widened when he realized Ethan was reading that man’s mind. Probably trying to make sure they are safe. He glares at the stranger for a second longer before scotting a bit closer to Grayson protectively - but not touching him. 

In fact the whole plane ride they didn’t touch one another at all. Even when Grayson had fallen asleep he made sure his head didn’t fall on his brothers shoulder no matter how badly he wanted to use Ethan as a makeshift pillow. 

Seventeen long boring uneventful hours later, they finally arrived at their new home. Ethan’s leg bounces up and down - a habit Grayson’s noticed he has picked up, something he does when he is anxious. Grayson wants to rest his hand on Ethan’s thigh to comfort him, but he suddenly isn’t sure if that is okay for him to do. So he keeps his hands to himself and just gives Ethan a small reassuring smile. 

After grabbing their backpacks they have to take the bus to their apartment since their car won’t be here until tomorrow. Ethan seemed like a bundle of nerves the whole ride and Grayson couldn’t help it anymore. He put his hand on Ethan’s, noticing the small jump of suprise from the contact and immedatly draws his hand back feeling stupid. “We are almost there.” Grayson says to Ethan, although his gaze is turned to his shoes. His face red as a tomato. He knows Ethan is tired and refused to sleep at all during the whole flight, maybe that is why he jumped? Or maybe he is disgusted with Grayson and doesn’t want Grayson to touch him anymore?

At these thoughts Grayson can’t help but turn to his own anxious tendencies. He picks at the skin near his nails and shuffles around to try and find a comfortable way to sit in his chair. He doesn’t bother looking out the bus window to admire the beauties of Australia, he is too on edge to even try and enjoy this. He was already a mess just with their whole ‘family’ situation but now this whole thing with Ethan is making things a million times worse.

By the time they make it into their new apartment both boys are exhausted. All their energy is drained out of them and the sun had just set. They are quiet as Ethan unlocks their apartment door B3 and they shuffle inside. Ethan closes and locks the door directly behind them, his eyes taking in their home - well, home for now that is. There is a possibility they may have to move again if their cover gets blown. 

Walking right into their apartment they are in their small kitchen, straight ahead is the living room area and down the hall to the left is Ethan’s room and the bathroom, on the right is Grayson’s room and the laundry room. It’s small, but that was all that they could afford. “Goodnight Gray.” Ethan mumbles before making his way into his own room and closing the door behind him. Standing there in the kitchen Grayson watches Ethan go, he sighed before making his way into his own bedroom. 

His room was fairly spacious. Bigger than Harry Potter’s stair closet but smaller than the Tanner sisters shared room on Full House. Chucking his backpack on the floor - already knowing he’ll probably trip on it later - Grayson plops onto his full size bed and tries to force himself to go to sleep, trying to ignore the millions of thoughts in his mind giving him reasons to overthink everything. 

Hours go by and Grayson finds himself glaring at the ceiling. He is so fucking tired but his mind won’t stop. Deciding he just isn’t gonna sleep tonight he shimmys out of bed and was almost to his door when he trips over his stupid backpack naerly smashing his head through the wall. “Shit!” He hisses. This only dampening his mood even more than it already was. When he opened his door he gasps, flinching when he notices Ethan standing there awkwardly. “Fucking hell, E! You scared the shit outta me!” 

“S-Sorry, I uh had another nightmare and um -” He is avoiding looking at Grayson, his bare feet shuffling on the wooden floor beneath them. “You know what, it’s stupid i’m just-”

“I-I couldn’t sleep either. It’s weird, before you were taken away I could sleep fine on my own. But ever since I found you it’s like it’s literally impossible to sleep without you next to me.” Grayson chuckles, cutting Ethan off awkwardly. Ethan’s eyes finally look up to meet Grayson’s, and he can see how tired Ethan is. Opening his door all the way Grayson takes a step back, gesturing inside for Ethan to come in. He gives Grayson a small smile before stepping in Grayson’s room and not even hesitating to climb in bed.

They are both pretty big dudes sharing a full size bed, so whether they want to or not, they have to spoon. It was fucking awkward as hell at first. Both boys were tense before they decided fuck it. Grayson had his arms around Ethan and immediately felt all the anxiety fall off his shoulders. He presses his nose against Ethan’s bare shoulder and feels his eyes finally close. “Goonight E.” He feels Ethan’s hands grip onto his own and their legs tangled together sloppingly under the sheets. 

“Goodnight Gray, love you.”


	8. Chapter Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ethan attempts to train Grayson on how to use his powers, things don't go well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who finally got a day off of work!

“In order to channel your abilities, you need to be calm and relaxed. Apparently it happens differently for everyone - but for me I had to be calm which was kind of impossible considering my whole situation.” Ethan explains.

“So since we are twins you think my experience will be similar to yours?” Grayson asks, his palms sweating as he runs his fingertips over them anxiously. 

“Yeah, I mean we are fairly similar in a lot of ways, maybe this is one of them too.” 

They are out in the middle of nowhere in some random field. Grayson has no clue how Ethan knew of this small open area, next to it is a bunch out trees surrounding them. It took them hours to get here, but it is beautiful so it was worth the trip. Plus it’s nice to be out of their new apartment. There’s still boxes all over the place and it’s a bit cluttered for Grayson’s liking. And there is so much awkward tension between the two of them still all because of that damn kiss they shared. Which isn’t helping Grayson calm his mind and be relaxed like Ethan was saying. 

“Close your eyes and take a deep breath in.” Ethan instructs calmly, and Grayson does as he says, letting the world fade to black for a moment. He can hear Ethan moving closer to him stepping through the grass. “Focus on the sounds around you.” He nearly jumped when he hears Ethan standing directly behind him and tries to draw out the heat radiating off of him and focus on their surroundings instead. The small birds chirping in the trees, the fresh scent of pine, a bee buzzing by in the distance, the sound of water close by - perhaps a river or a small stream? Ethan’s hot breath tickling his neck, the smell of Ethan’s cologne. 

“Okay this isn’t working!” Grayson huffs. He turns around frowning, nearly gasping when he realized how close Ethan was standing to him. Both boys take a small step back from one another. 

“You were not focusing hard enough.”

“How would you know? It’s not like you can read my mind.” Grayson crosses his arms over his chest feeling stubborn and annoyed. If you can’t tell, it was Ethan’s idea to come out here and ‘train’ because of how powerful Grayson is. But at this point Grayson is starting to wonder if the tests they had done as kids were wrong. Obviously Ethan’s weren't, but Grayson knows he isn’t some type of superhuman. Maybe their fake murderous parents knew that too and that’s why they never cared to take him in with Ethan?

“I know I can’t read your mind, it honestly drives me fucking crazy that I can’t sometimes.” Ethan grumbles, running his fingers through his hair clearly feeling frustrated himself. Grayson cannot fight the blush on his cheeks hearing this, he knows he should probably feel kinda annoyed that Ethan wants to intrude on his thoughts, but for some reason he just feels butterflies in his belly instead. 

“Well,” He clears his throat. “Why don’t you just show me what you did when you first unlock your abilities and then I’ll try it again.” He watches Ethan chew on his bottom lip unable to look at anything else until Ethan starts talking, dragging him out of his trance. “Okay, yeah that might help.” Ethan nods before stretching out his arms in front of him, he is wearing a long sleeve black Niki Manaj shirt and it hugs his arms just right. Closing his brown eyes, Ethan stands perfectly still. The calming sounds of nature surrounds them as Ethan doesn’t move a single muscle. Grayson takes this chance to really look at his brother making his stomach do all types of things. 

Ethan is beautiful, no wonder why he kissed him. He almost looks like he is sleeping making it clear he had to master being this relaxed in order to use his powers. The slight breeze around them blows his brown hair making him look like a fucking model and the sun is beaming down on his pale skin, it looks like he is glowing right now. He looks so much healthier too, the bruises and cuts are almost healed, and he has gained some more weight thanks to Grayson’s cooking. Grayson finds himself smiling at his twin in front of him, he just simply cannot help it. How can you stare at someone so beautiful and not want to smile? 

When he opens his eyes, they are a bright green and he is looking directly at Grayson. Sparks dance around his fingertips and he looks dangerous. Grayson makes a mental note in his mind to never piss his brother off again because the look Ethan is giving him is sending goosebumps down his spine. 

“The more you focus,” He brings his hands up and suddenly the sparks between his fingertips connect, sending a thick bolt between them. “The stronger you are.” Grayson watches in awe at the pretty bright blue color between Ethan’s hands. He is powerful. But just as fast as he created the lighting bolt, it was suddenly gone making Grayson look up at his brother watching as his eyes fade back to brown. “Alright, give it another go.”

Grayson closes his eyes and focuses his energy on everything around them, letting all their surroundings calm his nerves. Taking a deep breath in, he lets his body completely relax and for once shuts his mind off. He feels more peaceful out here in the nature, but other than that he doesn’t feel anything else different. So he tries harder. He can feel Ethan’s eyes on him but blocks it out, feeling pressured to be something he doesn’t think he is capable to be for his brother. And just like that the dam breaks loose in his mind letting all the stupid fucking thoughts flood back in ruining his concentration.

Ethan sighs, he must have seen it on Grayson’s face. “Grayson, you need to focus.” Ethan groans making Grayson open his eyes and glare at his brother who looks stressed. “Can’t you see that i’m fucking trying over here?” 

“You aren’t trying hard enough!” Ethan raises his voice, tossing his hands up in the air. 

“Considering how jerasticly my life has changed in the past two weeks, I'd say I'm doing the best I can. This is only my first time trying to use my powers so fuck off Ethan. We are done training for the day.” He grumbles, picking up his sweatshirt off the floor and heading into the trees towards the direction of the jeep. It takes Ethan a while to start following behind him, there goes Grayson’s thought in his mind to not piss his brother off, but right now he doesn’t care. He tried his best and Ethan decides to treat him like shit and be a dick about it. To make it all worse the whole situation is making Grayson so frustrated that he has to fight back the tears burning in his eyes.

Growing up it was always really hard on him being dislexic. It felt like no matter how hard he tried, and how long he’d spend studying for a test, he’d still fail anyway. All the other kids would brag about the A’s they’d get on their tests and how they didn’t even study meanwhile Grayson would be hiding his test paper under his desk that has a big F on the top. It wasn’t fair. Of course he later figured out a way to deal with dyslexia and how to handle it better. But to this day he still hates feeling stupid. It drives him crazy whenever he is treated like an idiot. And for Ethan to be the one treating him this way, he just feels like he wants to cry, having a hard time holding it in. 

The whole two hour car ride back to their apartment was silent. Ethan was gripping the steering wheel tighter than he needed to, and his jaw was clenched, meaning he is still angry. So Grayson turns his gaze to the window and doesn’t look at Ethan the whole ride back. 

By the time they pull up to their apartment, Grayson barley even waits for Ethan to put the jeep in park before hopping out and slamming the door behind him and heading inside. Tossing his shoes off quickly and hazardly tossing them on the floor while avoiding the small boxes on the ground, Grayson is slamming the bathroom door shut behind him before Ethan makes it inside the apartment. The second the door closes, Grayson breaks down. Sliding down against the door, he has one hand covering his mouth to try and quiet down the sobs leaving his mouth even though at this point it’s kind of pointless. He’s been holding this in since Vega,. telling himself everything is fine, it doesn’t matter. 

But his whole life has been a lie.

His parents are dead.

He is supposedly some freak that people want dead. 

His own twin thinks he is stupid. 

Everything is piling up too fast and he can’t handle it anymore. Tears stream down his cheeks uncontrollably. His eyes are closed tight, he doesn’t want to open them. He just wants to shut everything and everyone out. Ethan can probably hear him crying by now, and there is no covering up how red and puffy his face will be when he eventually stops crying. But right now he is too sad to care.

It feels like hours go by by the time Grayson pulls himself together and exits the bathroom. He notices Ethan waiting for him on the couch, he has a sad look in his eyes, looking like a kicked puppy, but Grayson turns away heading into his room. 

“Grayson -” Ethan’s voice is cut off by his door closing shut. He doesn’t lock it behind him, he doesn’t have the energy to. Also he is sort of hoping Ethan will come in and apologize, but at the same time he wants to be alone. So he pulls the covers over his shoulders and turns away from the door. Not to soon later there is a soft knock on the door, and then it opens slowly. “Gray,” His voice is soft, and for some reason it brings tears into his eyes all over again. He doesn’t trust his voice right now enough to respond, so he doesn’t. 

Ethan steps a bit closer to the bed, but doesn’t make a move to climb in with his twin. “I’m sorry I snapped at you. I am just scared. I don’t want what happened to me to happen to you and the thought of you getting taken or worse - “ His voice cracks and that’s when Grayson turns over to look at him only to find him crying. This of course makes Grayson cry to. “That’s why I was being so hard on you, I can protect you but if we can get your powers then i’d feel better. I can’t lose you.” 

Grayson sits up in bed, and opens his arms for his brother who doesn’t hesitate to step into his welcoming arms. “I’m sorry to. I shouldn’t have snapped either.” He mumbles on Ethan’s shoulder. “There is just so much going on right now and it’s all becoming too much.” Ethan’s fingers are tangling through his hair and Grayson doesn’t want to let go of his comforting touch anytime soon. “Maybe we should do something fun tomorrow.” Ethan hums. 

“And Gray, you know you can always talk to me, right?”

“Yeah, I know.” He sniffs, his cheek squished on Ethan’s shoulder. 

Ethan grips Grayson’s cheeks in his hands and tugs them apart. “By the way, I don’t think any less of you because you are having a hard time using your powers. It took me a long time to use mine and I was trying to speed up the process but I see now that’s not the best idea.” His thumbs are rubbing small circles on Grayson’s cheeks and for a split second he thinks Ethan might kiss him again. But instead of kissing his lips he presses his lips on Grayson’s temple, it’s still enough to make Grayson putty in Ethan’s arms.

“C’mon, let’s go have a Marvel marathon so I can catch up from what I missed.” Ethan gives Grayson a soft smile, his hand is stretched out for him to take it, so he does. Holding onto Ethan makes him feel a little bit better again. He likes being this close to his brother. It doesn’t feel right when they are distant.


	9. Chapter Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ethan is anxious about their day out, they discover something about Grayson on their relaxing day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why do I suck at writing chapter summaries?

“Wakey wakey Dolan!” The sound of the door bursting open and slamming against the wall jolts Ethan awake from his spot on the cold concrete floor. Quickly scooting away in fear, Ethan feels his back press against the wall and thumps the back of his head against it making his ears ring. Landon is eating a breakfast burrito, and just looking at it makes Ethan’s mouth water but at the same time make his stomach twist in knotts. He’s so hungry that it is making him feel sick to his stomach. 

“I got good news for you today kid,” Landon smriks, mouth full of food. “After your daily exam you are scheduled to train with the other test subjects.” Some crumbs of the rice in his burrito falls out of his mouth and lands in his thick black beard on his chin, Ethan can’t help but watch as it happens. “Why aren't you jumping for joy? You finally get to see kids your age again!” Landon smiles, showing off his big yellow teeth from all the smoking he does. 

‘What a waste, so much power from someone who is afraid to fucking use it.’ Ethan hears Landon think to himself, only making Ethan frown and avert his eyes to his skinny frail hands. 

“You are so ungrateful, you know that?” Landon scoffs taking three big steps towards Ethan making Ethan gasp and try to scoot further away in fear. “Don’t fight me again today boy. I am not in the mood.” Landon growls. His calloused hands slam Ethan into the floor onto his belly, and Ethan whimpers as he feels the cuffs being tightened around his wrist - piercing into his skin with the needles around the inside. “I bet your exam today will turn you around and make you appreciate things more.” Landon yanks Ethan up to his feet and shoves him down the grey hallway. The cuffs on his wrist injects a temporary serum into his system that shuts all his powers down until they get him contained into the exam room, and for once Ethan is happy to not have any of Landon’s thoughts roaming around in his head.

By the time they make it to their destination, Ethan feels like he is on the verge of tears. Everyone in the room is wearing white lab coats and masks around their mouths.They are all waiting for Ethan to get onto the lab table with tools in their gloved hands so they can take their samples for the day. “Don’t make us do this the hard way again.” Landon has to shove Ethan over to the table making him let out a sob as he looks down at his bruised thighs in reminder of yesterday's beating. He turns around so one of the spawns of satan can remove his cuffs and restrain him down on the lab table by his ankles and wrists.

They waste no time poking him and starting the process of getting his blood drawn, his arms bruised from how hard they poke him every time. He does his best at remaining as calm as possible through the oral exam, the measuring, the ten tubes of blood and his daily dose of serum. But when his ‘father’ walks in with a drill in his hands Ethan knows his exam won’t be like the others. 

“Hold him down.” Is all Ethan hears before he feels hands all over him, and then the drill turns on. 

Jumping awake, Ethan’s heart is pounding in his chest as he sits up and takes in his surroundings. He is sweating profusely from the sheets on his lap and looks down to see a sleeping Grayson. His mouth is open slightly as drool falls from his parted lips, soft snores fill the room. Ethan runs his fingers through Grayson’s messy hair before tossing the covers off himself and getting out of bed knowing he won’t be able to sleep after that vivid nightmare. He hates it when he dreams of what had happened to him in there. Sleeping with Grayson helps, but every now and then the memories continue to haunt him.

He takes a quick shower getting all the sweat off of his body helping him feel more refreshed and dries off. After getting dressed in some red shorts and a black shirt he glances at the clock and groans. It’s 6:05 in the morning. Grayson wakes up early, but not this early. He’ll either have to wake him because he is bored, or wait for him to get up. His stomach growls loudly, so he decides to try and make some breakfast for him and his twin instead of wait a couple hours. How hard can it be right? Plus cooking should help get his mind off of things. 

Getting out the ingredients Ethan starts cooking some dairy free pancakes. Using the last bit of almond milk he makes a mental note to himself that they need to go grocery shopping later today. Biting his bottom lip at the thought of going out, his mind wanders anxiously at what could possibly happen. He hates going out in public. It’s enough to have your own thoughts being unable to shut up in your own mind - but to have a handful of strangers thoughts in one setting is fucking annoying. Plus he doesn’t trust anyone. 

He knows most of his fear of crowded places is because of him getting taken at the carnival - but it’s more than that now. Because now he has to worry about Grayson as well. And he promised Grayson that they’d do something fun today. So that means they’ll have to be around even more people.

The smoke alarm blarres through their apartment startling Ethan out of his thoughts, looking down he realizes that his pancakes are black and smoking like crazy. Before he can even think to act Grayson is by his side moving him aside as he deals with the situation at hand. Feeling like an idiot, Ethan just sits back and watches Grayson turn the stove off and move the smoking pan aside as he airs out the smoke detectors with a paper plate. “Can you open the windows?” His voice is deep, still full of sleep only adding to the guilt Ethan feels. Nodding his head in response he quickly does as his brother says. 

By the time he has every window open the smoke alarms finally shut off and Grayson is leaning against the counter in their kitchen in just his tight black boxers. Blushing at the sight, Ethan walks the walk of shame with his head tucked low, heading back to his failed pancakes. “What’re you doin’ up so early?” Grayson asks through a yawn. 

“Couldn’t sleep.” 

“So you decided to cook? You, out of all people actually decided it would be a good idea to make food?” Grayson is looking at him with a serious expression, making Ethan squint his eyes at his twin. “What are you trying to say?” He asks accusingly.

“All I've ever seen you make in the past is cereal.” Grayson deadpans.

“So sue me I wanted to make my baby brother a nice refreshing breakfast for once!” Ethan throws his arms up in defeat feeling annoyed until Grayson starts laughing. He thought Grayson was being one hundred percent serious but knowing he wasn’t makes Ethan crack a smile and shove his twin. “Dickhead.” He chuckles, the air around them finally feeling lighter and less awkward. 

Grayson of course ended up making them new pancakes, that tasted like fucking heaven. They then got ready for the day and as much as Ethan acted like it was normal - pretending to be calm - they headed out in public. Turns out the place Grayson wanted to spend their fun stress free day was the beach. And of course it is extremely crowded, it is a nice warm day out after all. There is people surfing in the ocean, kids playing in the sand building sand castles, and clumps of people sun tanning. 

Parking the jeep in the last open spot on the lot, Grayson turns his attention to his twin who has been oddly silent this whole drive. Ethan had mentioned some grocery shopping after this and going to the mall to get them new phones. Grayson was bubbling with excitement the whole drive. Ethan sits there staring out the passenger window as if he’s in a trance. His leg is bouncing up and down at a fast pace as he clicks his thumb against his thigh. “You okay, E?” Grayson asks, his voice full of worry. Ethan snaps his head over to his twin with wide eyes, looking like he’d been caught trying to eat candy from Cameron’s secret stash. 

“Y-Yup, I’m good!” He clears his voice slapping an obvious fake smile on his lips. Grayson sees right through him though. “Eth, you should have told me you didn’t want to come here.” Grayson’s eyes are soft, he places his hand over Ethan’s that is on his thigh. 

Sighing, Ethan glares out the window and grips Grayson’s hand. “But you want to be here.” He says to the window, watching as two teens play volleyball in the sand. The smell of the salt water is strong even from inside of the jeep. It’s been so long since Ethan’s been at the beach, and if no one else was here he’d already been completely submerged in the ocean. “It’s fine Grayson. If it becomes too much and I can’t handle it then i’ll tell you and we can leave.” He finally turns his attention back to his brother to see him really thinking about it.

“Okay fine.” Grayson eventually agrees, unbuckling his seatbelt. “But you tell me the second it becomes too much, okay?” His voice is firm, Ethan feels like a child being scolded for not cleaning his room before his mom got home. Still feeling anxious and not trusting his voice, Ethan just nods in response with a tight smile on his lips. 

The second they step out of the jeep the warm humid air slaps Ethan right in the face, he can practically taste the salt water from here. He hurries over to Grayson’s side standing a bit too close to him for the public eye, wanting to grip onto his hand but holding himself back. When they make it to the sand both boys take their slides off and Ethan steps his feet into the soft warm sand, loving the familiar feeling of sand beneath his feet. He can hear the waves crashing into shore, enjoying the sound before everyone's thoughts come rushing into his head at once. 

‘The sand in my ass crack itches, god why’d Lindsay convince me to come here.’

‘Is the zits on my back noticeable with my swimsuit?’

‘I gotta pee so bad but the porta potty is clear in the parking lot, guess I’ll just go in the ocean.’

‘Ra ra rah rah rah! Rama ram ma ma! Ga ga oh la la! Want your bad romance!’

‘It’s way too humid for this shit.’

‘I’d slap that, damn that is one fine ass.’

At the last one, Ethan snaps his head to glare at the blonde haired boy who is ‘tanning’ in a speedo. A girl is next to him and he is rubbing tanning lotion all over her exposed body, she is wearing a thin two sizes two small red bikini that has a thong in the back. The boys eyes are glued on Grayson’s ass as he rubs the lotion on the tan girl next to him. Reading his mind again tells him the girl is his girlfriend. What a fuck boy. Ethan takes one step closer to Grayson, feeling the blondes eyes on him as he does so. 

Sometimes he feels like his ‘gifts’ are more of a curse than anything else. He hasn’t quite learned how to shut out others thoughts in his mind yet. And when strangers thoughts are always so negative it makes things really annoying. 

Suddenly Grayson is gripping his hand and running straight for the water ahead of them laughing. A small smile is on Ethan’s lips as he allows himself to be dragged into the ocean. Segals chirp above them as they splash their way into the ocean. It doesn’t take long for them to get waist deep and start dunking one another in. He had just grabbed Grayson’s arm to tug him into his chest before throwing them both in the water at the same time, but Grayson catches him off guard by gripping his foot beneath him and yanking hard enough to knock him off his feet. 

Hours go by and the crowd starts to die down as the sun begins to set. Ethan had almost forgotten about his anxiety - Grayson is a great distraction after all. But no matter how much fun he was having he still felt off. He doesn’t know if he will ever be normal again in big crowds. Plus to top it off he’s been feeling on edge, trying to ignore the suspicious feeling that never seems to leave him - like they are being watched. 

Ethan is sitting in the sand with his legs bent, burying his feet as he dries off watching Grayson collect seashells like a child at the shore. They had been playing in the water for hours, and Ethan’s skin is tomato red. They should have bought some sunscreen before this. Looking at Grayson Ethan notices he got burnt too - but nowhere near as bad as he is. With Grayson’s back towards him, Ethan lets his eyes linger a bit longer on his brother. Letting his gaze trail down his strong shoulders too his toned back and perky ass. Eyeing his tattoos on his thighs. 

‘What a fucking sicko.’

Ethan hears a man’s voice in his head, but it’s one of the many voices he’s heard today so he isn’t even fazed by the sound of it. He’s too preoccupied by the way the sunset is making his twin glow. “Why the fuck are you checking your twin brother out? What type of faggot incest shit is this?!” Ethan snaps his head to look over at the source of the voice. The voice he had just heard in his head moments ago belongs to a man who looks to be in his thirties. He has a beer belly but some muscles in his strong hairy arms. He is already balding and is smoking a cigarette running the fresh ocean breeze in the air. 

“What?” Ethan asks, dumbfounded. 

“You know exactly what i’m talking about dumbass! Ain’t nobody looks at their siblings like you just did you little punk!” All the sudden the man throws his cigarette in the sand and is in Ethan’s face. His nasty ass breath on Ethan’s face as he yells. “First we gotta deal with all this gay shit, and now incest is on top of it?! What is wrong with kids these days?!” Ethan closes his eyes, trying to calm himself down before he completely loses his shit. The finger poking at his chest as the man continues to yell at him is becoming more difficult to ignore than he thought. Clenching his hands into fists Ethan snaps his glowing green eyes open just in time to see the dickhead literally fly off the ground sending grains of sand all over his lap as he flies out of sight and into the ocean. 

Quickly standing on his feet, Ethan looks up in shock at his twin brother. He knows here out of all places isn’t a place for this at all, but he can’t help but feel a little proud. Standing a few steps away from him is Grayson, his chest rises and falls at a fast pace. 

His once hazel eyes are now a glowing red.


	10. Chapter Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys finally talk about what happened.

It takes Ethan a solid three minutes to regester what just happened. Everyone on the beach is gathered on the shore of the ocean trying to help the man that Grayson just launched into the water without even touching him. “We gotta go.” Ethan wastes no more time gripping his brothers arm and tugging him through the thick warm sand all the way to the jeep. “Ethan, what the hell just happened?” Grayson slides his hand into Ethan’s, his palm is sweaty but Ethan doesn’t mind. 

“We will talk about this in the car.” Ethan grips Grayson’s hand tighter and quickened his pace. This is not the place to talk about what just happened. Grayson just unlocked his power in front of a beach full of people. Trying to ignore the hundreds of thoughts clouding his mind of confused panicked strangers that witnessed the scene, Ethan finally makes it to the jeep and opens the passenger door for his twin. He wastes no time climbing in the drivers side and flooring it getting as far away from this beach as possible. 

“Ethan - “ Grayson starts but Ethan cuts him off taking a sharp right turn making Grayson grip the door so he doesn’t slam his head into the window. 

“We need to find a new place to live.” Ethan feels like he is on the verge of a panic attack, he can’t control his breathing and he is beginning to sweat uncontrollably. “When we get back to the apartment we are going to pack everything and get a new place to live. It’s not safe here anymore, so many people saw what happened I heard them -” 

“Ethan slow down!” Grayson puts his hand on Ethan’s thigh and that’s what snaps him out of his panic mode enough to look at his speedometer. Getting pulled over for going 73 in a 30 isn’t going to help them get out of this town any faster, so he eases off the pedal. “Jesus you are going to kill us just by driving.” Grayson mumbles taking his hand off of Ethan’s leg to run his fingers through his hair, he is clearly stressing out as well. 

“You unlocked your powers.” Ethan states as if Grayson didn’t know what he just did moments ago. 

“No shit. I made an enitre douchbag airborn without even touching him and it’s freacking me the fuck out.” His voice waivers slightly and this makes Ethan takes his eyes off the road to glance at his brother who has his bottom lip between his teeth as he bites it and bounces his leg furiously. Ethan sighed, pulling up to a red light and focuses his attention on his twin. “Even though that wasn’t the time or place to unlock your abilities, I’m proud of you.” 

Grayson snorts. “I would’ve ripped that man's head off if I could’ve and now we have to pack up and move away already when we just got settled in and yet you are proud of me?! Who's to say I won’t rip the next person’s head off that speaks so lowly to you next time? E, I don’t know what came over me but it was far from good. I’ve never felt so angry before, hearing the things he was saying to you - I just snapped.” He slouches his shoulders, clearly disappointed in himself. They both jump when someone honks their horn from behind them, but it is only because the light turned green making Ethan take his eyes off his brother. 

“Why did he make you so angry?” Ethan asks with a small voice, even though he is pretty sure he knows the reason why, he just wants to hear Grayson say it. 

“Did you even hear the shit he was saying to you, Ethan? He has no right to say those things! Just thinking about it is pissing me off again, no one talks to you like that.” He clenches his fists, the half full water bottle in the cup holder beginning to shake. Glancing at his brother, his eyes are glowing bright red. “He was right though.” 

“What?” Grayson snaps his head to look at his brother, his red eyes beginning to fade back to brown slowly. 

“He was right.” Ethan keeps his eyes fixed on the road, their apartment complex just around the corner. “I shouldn’t have been looking at you like that. Like you are a cute boy that lives across the street that I have a crush on and can hold your hand if I want to, or take on dates to the movie theater and buy a small popcorn so our hands touch more when we grab some at the same time feeling butterflies in my stomach everytime. I shouldn’t want to always be close to you like I do, or admire the dimples in your back every time your shirt is off wanting to kiss them. Normal brothers shouldn’t want to kiss each other.” 

“But we are not like normal brothers, Ethan.” Grayson sounds breathless, and Ethan can feel his eyes on his face but he refuses to look at him. 

“You are right, we aren't. What happened in Vegas - it made things worse. I shouldn’t have acted on my fucked up feelings like that, I shouldn’t have kissed you. There is too much going on right now and even if we weren’t ‘different’ it is still illegal to have romantic feelings towards your sibling.” He ignores the stinging in his eyes, and pulls up into their small driveway putting the car in park and pulling the keys out of the ignition. 

“Ethan - “ 

He cuts Grayson off again, hopping out of the driver's seat. “We need to start packing.” He slams the door shut and heads up to their apartment not hearing Grayson walking behind him. He feels numb going up the elevator alone, and robotically begins to pack his belongings. He can’t even bring himself to cry, there is no time for that. He had to let his feelings for his brother go. It’s not fair to Grayson. He deserves to know and Ethan thought telling him would make him feel better but it doesn’t. He didn’t even notice he was frozen blankly staring at his bed until he finally heard the front door open and slam shut making him wince. Grayson finally made it inside. 

He just hopes this doesn’t affect their relationship too much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was this chapter short? Yes.  
Did this chapter suck? Yes.  
Did I spend the last month re-writing this chapter because I hated everything I wrote? Yes.  
Do I have writers block? Yes.  
Am I going to give up on this story? No.


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys are just getting settled into their new apartment, but Grayson has some news.

They have been in their new apartment for three days now. They are now in Apollo Bay and it is absolutely stunning here. If Grayson was actually speaking to Ethan right now he is sure his twin wouldn’t be able to shut up about the beauty of this little town they are in and how bad he wants to go surfing. Grayson has been giving him the silent treatment ever since their conversation in the jeep and the silence has been driving him insane. 

Grayson Dolan is many things, but quiet is not one of them. And the fact that Ethan can’t read his mind like he can anyone else is making him want to pull off his toe nails. 

He was currently in the middle of unpacking the little kitchen supplies they have, taking the plastic utensils out of the packaging and placing them in the drawer next to the dishwasher, making a mental note to buy real silverware at the store - adding that to the big shopping list of household supplies they need when Grayson suddenly emerges out of his room. He of course avoids looking at Ethan as he heads over to the front door and begins to put on his vans. Grayson is wearing black pants and a pink and white striped shirt making his hazel eyes pop, he looks stunning and it makes Ethan’s heart ache. 

“Where are you going?” Ethan asks, wincing when it came out more demanding than he wanted it to. The thought of Grayson leaving the room, let alone the building without him still gives Ethan major anxiety. At this point he knows it’s not just because he is afraid of Grayson not being able to stand up for himself - because it is clear that he can. 

“I got a job.” 

“You what?!” Ethan places the now empty plastic silverware box down on the counter before walking over to his twin feeling his palms sweat. “I. Got. A. Job.” Grayson deadpans, crossing his arms over his chest looking like a housewife that is about to take her flip flop off and wack Ethan with it. 

There are a million questions running a marathon inside Ethan’s brain giving him a headache and he can already feel a new stress zit forming on his forehead from those four words alone. “It’s way too soon to even think about working Grayson! Especially out in public! It’s n - “ 

“Not safe, I know.” He rolls his eyes, shaking his head in annoyance. This only irritates Ethan making him cross his own arms over his chest and chew on the inside of his lip. “How much money do you have saved up Ethan? Because I only have one hundred and twenty four dollars left and one months rent is five hundred and sixty dollars here. Not to mention that we need to pay for appliances on top of that and for groceries AND our car insurance! I don’t know what your plan was, but if we want it to work one of us is going to have to start working now.” 

The thought of Grayson working makes Ethan feel sick. Doesn’t matter if it’s a part time job or a full time, the fact is that he just doesn’t want him out there in the real world alone. “How’d you get a job without even leaving the apartment?” He asks, stubbornly avoiding Grayson’s strong gaze. 

“Had an online interview.” 

“Where do you work?” He sighs, flicking his eyes up to his twin hating the way he gets butterflies in his belly just from Grayson looking at him. “At the coffee shop two blocks down.” 

“I don’t like this. You know I can’t protect you if you are gone all day.” Ethan starts to pace, suddenly needing to move, needing to do something before he goes crazy. “You don’t need to. I unlocked my power like you wanted me to, remember? I can take care of myself.” Grayson scoffs and goes back to finishing tying his left shoe. Ethan would be lying if he said that didn’t sting, hearing Grayson say he can take care of himself. He shouldn’t have brought up his fucked up feelings for his twin, things were fine before that! Now Grayson hates him.

“You don’t even know how to properly control your power yet though! What if you accidentally use it in front of people again or hur - “ Ethan cuts himself off this time, watching Grayson’s eyes turn bright red as he focuses on something behind Ethan. The empty utensil box begins to shake slightly before it is lifted off the kitchen counter floating in mid air all the way to the garbage can. Once it lands in with all the other trash Grayson then focuses his attention back on his twin. “I think I am more than capable of controlling myself.” 

Ethan blinks in confusion at what had just happened. Grayson clearly does not understand that learning how to control your power takes months in practice, and what he just did it takes most people at least six months to master. He knew Grayson would be powerful, but he didn’t know to what extent. “How did you learn to do that?” He asks, completely dumbfounded. 

“Practiced.” Grayson shrugs, grabbing his keys off the counter. “Grayson, you do realize what you just did takes others -” 

“I’m going to be late for my first shift.” And with that the front door opens and closes right in Ethan’s face leaving him home alone for the first time since he has been found. He’d rather have Grayson here hiding in his room all day over this. It’s so quiet it’s making his skin crawl. He doesn’t even know how long Grayson’s shift is and it’s taking everything in Ethan to not chase his brother down and drag him back home by his ear. Taking a deep shaky breath in, Ethan decides to continue packing to distract himself. 

*****

Grayson feels like a total ass. He hates being mean to Ethan, but he can’t help it! He is hurt and pissed off. He can still hear Ethan’s harsh words echoing in his mind, Ethan completely turning him down without giving him a chance to speak. To say he feels like shit would be an understatement and being cramped up inside their small apartment is making him go mad. 

Before he found Ethan, and before Ethan went missing, going outside was Grayson’s favorite thing to do. He loves feeling the summer sun on his skin and the cool breeze blow through his hair. Exploring the world is apart of him, it’s what he is used to. He knew he’d be starting a whole new life running away with his brother, but he didn’t know he’d be stuck hiding inside all day. Getting a job wasn’t an excuse to get out of the house, because if Grayson had time to really search for a job he’d pick an outdoor job. But they need money and bad so this job will have to do. As much as it hurts being in the same space as Ethan right now, it somehow hurts even more being away from him even though he was rejected hard time. 

Fucking seperation anxiety.

He stares at the little coffee shop for a moment. Yellow sunflowers are planted next to the glass door and four small tables with umbrellas are placed in front of the shop. The smell of coffee and scones already filling his nose making his stomach rumble, he should’ve sucked it up and left the safety of his room to go into the kitchen and eat before he came here. Oh well. 

Three hours have gone by since he had walked into Cup o’ Joe - yes, that is the name of this cafe, and it is very fitting for the shop. It feels very homey inside of here. There is a fireplace in the back, a window seat with a shelf of books next to it, a cozy couch to lounge on, live plants scattering the tables and shelves, glitter lights draped across the ceiling and the walls are covered in retro decor. Not to mention the fact that his coworkers seem super chill, meaning they have only spoken to him when needed and helped train him the first two hours. With all the shit that’s gone down the past couple weeks Grayson has decided not to let any strangers in on his personal life and to keep a distance from others. It’s not like he can read minds like Ethan, so this will have to do until Ethan is around. 

Grabbing empty coffee mugs off the table where a group of college girls were just studying, he places them in his dirty dishes tray and begins wiping down the table. “Hey there, I’ve never seen you around here before. You must be new!” A strong deep Austrialian accent rumbles making Grayson jump slightly. He had no idea anyone was even near him, this guy almost made him drop his tray of dishes. Glancing up, he first notices the man's high top black converse, he is wearing faded blue torn jeans, a baby blue plain long sleeve shirt and a black beanie is snug covering his long curly hair. His eyes are sky blue and he has dark tan skin with a five o'clock shadow on his chin. Grayson would be lying if he said this man wasn’t attractive. “My names Oliver.” Oliver smiles showing off his pearly white straight teeth as he holds out a hand for Grayson to shake.

“Grayson.” He introduces himself briefly before shaking the man's hand, noticing what appears to be a tattoo poking out of his sleeve on his wrist. His hand is warm in Grayson’s and he finds himself blushing from his touch. Olivers eyebrows raise and his smile turns into a grin showing off the dimples on his cheeks. “Nice to meet you Grayson, you’re American, is that correct?” 

“Uh, yeah. Just moved here with my brother a couple weeks ago.” He gives Oliver a small smile in return, then feels his face turn a darker shade of pink when he notices his hand is still in Olivers making him quickly pull his hand back to his side. “Welcome to Apollo Bay! If you need a tour guide, I’d be more than happy to show you around.” Oliver takes a step closer to Grayson and places his hand on Grayson’s shoulder. 

“Oh um, I don’t know about that.” He chuckles awkwardly. “I’m pretty busy and I got a lot of unpacking to do still.” He finds himself coming up with an excuse for some reason. Unable to get Ethan out of his brain making him feel gross all the sudden - like hanging out with Oliver will upset his twin. “I can help you, if you’d like that is!” Oliver responds quickly almost sounding desperate making Grayson take a hesitant step away from the man. Oliver seems to notice this and takes his hand off of Grayson’s shoulder. “Oh god I am sorry if I’m coming off too strong. It’s just the second I laid my eyes on you I knew I had to come speak to you. I’ve never seen someone with such beauty.” Oliver takes another step closer and reaches out to touch Grayson again - Grayson who is feeling extremely overwhelmed.

That’s when Ethan bursts through the door.


	12. Chapter Twelve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ethan and Grayson have another argument, and Grayson looses control.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, if you wanna really get into this shitty chapter look this up rainy mood on google, it helps make this chapter less shitty :D

It had only been an hour and a half since Grayson left for work and Ethan already found himself marching down to the little coffee shop down the block. Something feels off and it’s driving him insane. Ever since Grayson stepped out of the safety of their apartment walls Ethan has felt like his skin has been tingling. At least he successfully unpacked the entire kitchen and cleaned it before he left, so he got something done. It’s not like he was just sitting around. But he just needs to see Grayson through the window, to see that everything is fine and he is safe. Clearly his presence has been bothering Grayson lately so he won’t bug him unless it is necessary. 

That’s why he finds himself feet planted on the wet pavement as rain trickles down softly, standing directly outside Cup O’ Joe’s. He spots Grayson instantly, he looks cute in his work apron but there is someone else with Grayson, just by the look of Grayson Ethan can tell he looks uncomfortable talking to this person. Clenching his jaw at the sight in front of him Ethan doesn’t think twice before bursting through the door, the little bell rings above him signaling his entrance. 

‘One way or another I'll get your fine ass and you’ll be mine.’

Instantly someone’s filthy thoughts flood into Ethan’s mind and Ethan knows whose thoughts they belong to. Grayson’s confused eyes are on his own the instant he steps inside the building, and he averts his gaze over to the owner of those sick thoughts. Balling his fists in his hands at the sight of the stranger next to his twin, Ethan immediately goes into defense mode storming over to where the two are standing. “Oh, is this the brother you were telling me about Grayson?” The man crosses his arms over his chest comfortably with a smug expression on his lips as his smooth Australin accent rolls off his tongue. 

Grayson opens his mouth to speak, but Ethan cuts him off before he gets the chance. “Actually, I'm his boyfriend.” He grows, finally planting his feet firmly directly in between Grayson and this dickwad, ignoring Grayson’s eyes burning a hole in the back of his head. 

“Are you sure about that buddy? You two are bloody identical! There is no way you’re not twins!” 

“Do I look like I am joking?” Ethan’s voice darkens, he takes one step closer to the man and he is feeling himself beginning to lose control. They need to get out of here before he causes a scene, but god he wants to shove his fists inside this mans chest and electrocute his insides. 

“Calm down Ethan, it’s fine.” Grayson grips Ethan’s wrist tightly in his hand and tugs him back closer to himself harshly. This only seems to make this stranger more smug. He grins down at Ethan and raises his eyebrow and before he even opens his mouth to speak Ethan has to fight everything inside himself not to punch the unspoken words off of his lips. “Yeah, calm down buddy.” 

‘What a fucking freak.’

“We are going home right now.” Ethan growls tugging Grayson with him out the door. He feels like he is on fire right now and doesn’t understand what is going on with him. He’s never felt like this before. Sure, he’s heard nasty comments about himself and Grayson from strangers, but he’s handled that just fine. So what makes this guy so different? They were almost out the door but then Grayson yanked his arm out of Ethan’s grasp. 

“The hell?! I’m working Ethan, I can’t just leave! I’ll get fired!” His eyebrows are pinched together and irritation fills his voice. Looking over his shoulder Ethan notices that same jackass right where they left him, clearly waiting for Grayson to crawl right back to him with his cell phone in his hand as he smirks up at Ethan. “We don’t have time for this.” He finds himself growling and roughly grabbing Grayson’s forearm before yanking him out the front door. They of course didn’t get far. Grayson is stronger than him after all. But yet Ethan was still surprised when he found himself being yanked back into an alley, almost slammed into a brick wall. 

“The fuck Grayson?!” He blinks the rain drops out of his eyes as he glares at his twin standing directly across from him. “What part of ‘i’ll get fired’ do you not understand?” Grayson’s voice is low, and Ethan can tell just from that alone how angry Grayson is right now.

“Why does it matter, you’ll find a different job!”

“We need a job right now dumbass! We will be living on the streets if I don’t get a paycheck by next week!” 

“Then get another job before then!”

“What is so bad about the one I have now!?” 

They are yelling over the rain pouring down on them. This argument is only making Ethan feel even more angry than he was before. He wants to just go back to their apartment and shut this conversation out of his mind. Deep down he knows they need a job, and he knows Grayson’s safety isn’t his main reason why he dislikes him working at the coffee shop now. He is jealous. Seeing Grayson even standing so close to another man sets his skin on fire. “We will talk about this later.” He finds himself grumbling, crossing his drenched arms over his chest as he begins to walk past Grayson. 

“Where are you going?” He hears Grayson growl behind him but he doesn’t bother turning around. 

“Home.”

“To do what? Completely shove away your feelings again? To push me away because you are scared of what will happen if you truly open up to me?” Grayson yells over the rain and Ethan finds himself stopping dead in his tracks at this, clenching his fists at his sides. “You don’t get to fucking walk away from me this time!”

He turns around, noticing his brothers hurt filled big brown eyes and feels his heart rate begin to pick up from it. He is doing it all over again - hurting the only person on this Earth he cares about. But he knows if he actually lets Grayson in, if he tells Grayson the things he’s done, there is no way Grayson could ever trust him again. That’s why he has created this wall between them. He doesn’t want to hurt his brother even more than he already has. 

“Watch me.” He begins to turn around to leave, and for a split second he noticed those big brown eyes begin to fade into a bright red. Time seemed to slow down as Ethan suddenly lost control of his movements. He feels the ground beneath him disappear as he is being lifted into mid air. Rain drops around him seem to slow down as well, and what feels like minutes of floating there unable to even move a finger suddenly turns into seconds as he flies back fast enough to make his head spin and his breath catch in his throat. 

The last thing he sees is Grayson’s red eyes before he hits his head hard on the brick wall making his vision fade to black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> p.s. sorry I keep leaving you all on cliffhangers, I can't help it :P


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grayson is a mess and gets even worse when Ethan wakes up, luckily Ethan knows how to calm him down.

The sound of Ethan’s skull smashing against the solid brick wall is what shaped Grayson out of it. His heart started pounding at an increasingly rapid pace at the sight of his brothers unconscious body on the floor. Even from where he is standing, he could see a puddle of blood forming underneath Ethan’s head. “Oh my god.” He lifts a trembling hand over his mouth before finally getting his heavy feet to move over to his twins side. “Ethan!” He cries, crouching down to look and see how bad it is - how bad he hurt him. That thought makes him feel nauseous and he has to actually look away from his brother for a moment to collect himself as he begins to sob. 

It was an accident. 

He didn’t mean to hurt Ethan. 

He just lost control. 

Focusing his blurry vision back to Ethan, he puts his shaky hands underneath his head to lift him up gently, he needs to find the source of the bleeding to see how bad it is. They have had plenty of injuries growing up as kids. The worst was definitely Grayson’s snowboarding accident where he passed out from it and was hospitalized for the night. Or when Ethan crashed on his skateboard and got twenty five stitches in his leg. And they have had plenty of fights as kids as well where they threw a couple of punches over something as stupid as legos, or their last fight in seventh grade about Cindy Booker. But out of every fight they’ve had, it’s never been this bad. 

Covering the wound on the back of Ethan’s head with his palm to help stop the bleeding, Grayson tugs Ethan’s head in his lap pressing a kiss to his wet hair. “I’m so sorry, E! I’m sorry!” He rocks them back and forth on the floor slowly trying to get a hold of himself before he gets back up onto his feet. Now is not the time to have a mental breakdown. He needs to get Ethan home so he can patch him back up and so they can get out of the rain so they don’t get sick. Luckily Ethan won’t need stitches, Grayson can tell just from looking at the wound that it isn’t that deep. But that doesn’t mean Ethan doesn’t have a concussion. 

Suddenly a really bad feeling washes over him, and he feels the hair on his arms stick up. Jerking his head up feeling like he looks absolutely pathetic - tears and snot on his face, his wet hair sticking to his forehead still wearing his work apron, Grayson looks down the alleyway feeling like he is being watched, but doesn’t see anyone. His stomach churns making him feel nauseated and that what gives him the energy to get the hell out of here. Tucking Ethan’s head gently on his shoulder Grayson puts and arm under Ethan’s legs and one behind his back, scooping him up into his arms and heads back home. 

****************

Groaning in discomfort from the pounding in his skull, Ethan immediately begins to panic. He’s woken up many times like this and found himself on the cold hard ground in his cell. But when he moves to sit up he notices he is most definitely on a mattress. Opening his eyes as he gets into a sitting position, he fights the dizziness and the fuzzy vision instantly recognizing his room in his and Grayson’s new apartment and feels his heart settle down instantly. 

“E,” Grayson’s voice comes from the corner of the room, he sounds broken, like he’s been crying for a while. And it took until Ethan looked at him, completely soaked in a coffee shop apron with red swollen eyes for Ethan to remember what happened. He must have made some expression on his face once he remembered because now Grayson is crying. “I - I’m so fucking sorry, it was an accident! I don’t know what h - happened E, I l - lost control and it’s like I've been so angry lately. I’m a m - monster.” He stutters through his tears, whispering the last part as he drops his head down. 

He doesn’t even notice it when Ethan gets up off his bed, walking around the bloody gauze on the floor that Grayson must have made while he was patching Ethan up making Ethan very aware of the bandage wrapped around his temple as he finally makes it over to his twin. He places his hand on Grayson’s cheek, making him gasp softly, quickly looking up to meet Ethan’s soft eyes. “It’s okay, Gray. It was an accident.” He gives Grayson a soft smile, trying to give him the reassurance he needs, but it doesn’t seem to work. 

“You should be scared of me, I am scared of myself. I’m like a fucking time bomb!” Suddenly he is standing up and pacing the room with his hands in his hair. “I don’t even know who I am anymore, Ethan!” He raises his voice, tears pricking his wet eyes making Ethan’s heart shatter. “I do, I know who you are.” 

“You are my brother, my best friend.” Ethan’s voice stays calm and soft, watching Grayson’s movements closely. 

“What kind of a brother am I to hurt you? I could have killed you Ethan and I hate myself for it.” His bottom lip trembles and that’s when Ethan has finally had enough. Taking two wide steps he tugs Grayson into his arms in a tight embrace. Grayson melts into him instantly sobbing onto his shoulder as he wraps his arms tight around Ethan’s back apologizing to him over and over. “Shh, it’s okay.” Ethan whispers, running his fingers through Grayson’s wet hair ignoring the pain in his head as he comforts his twin. 

“This kind of thing is normal when you first discover your abilities. You have to train a lot, some people it takes them years to master their powers. But in the kitchen this morning when you threw away that box without even touching it - without struggling. Gray, I told you before how powerful you are and I was right. No one has ever been able to use their power so easy this early on before.” 

“I am never using my powers again.” Grayson chokes out, Ethan grips his face by his cheeks and tugs him off his shoulder looking into his sad eyes. “I hurt you. And I am never going to do that again.”

“I believe you. But you need to believe me when I tell you it’s okay, I forgive you. This isn’t the first time I've been hurt like this, I can handle it. My only friend I ever had back when I first got taken, me and him had to train together. He lost control and nearly lasered my left eye out.” Ethan chuckles at the memory, rubbing the tear off of Grayson’s cheek with his thumb. “Please don’t give up on yourself yet.” He whispers.

Grayson cups Ethan’s hands cradling his face and closes his eyes. He can’t look at Ethan like this. Seeing him hurt and knowing he is the one who caused it. So he doesn’t respond. He just tries to enjoy the warmth radiating off of his brother while it’s still welcomed. He feels Ethan press his lips to his temple and tears burn his eyes again from the motion. “I thought you’d get fired if you left work.” Ethan’s tone is a lot lighter now, clearly trying to change the subject to lighten the mood, but Grayson just shrugs refusing to meet Ethan’s eyes. 

“Okay that’s it.” Grayson jumps when Ethan gets up and heads out the bedroom at a quick pace. It takes him a while to come back and Grayson starts to think he isn’t going to - which if that was the case he wouldn’t blame him. So when a backpack suddenly slaps him in the face he jumps hard enough to make the bed squeak beneath him. “Wha - “ 

Ethan cuts him off before he can finish his question. “Pack up bitch. We’re going camping for the weekend.” 

“Camping?” 

“Yup. Clearly we both could use some fresh air. And maybe if you’re feeling up to it we can train a bit. But that would be after we go hiking and skinny dipping in the lake down at the reservoir, oh and after roasting smores! We can get fishing licenses to!” Ethan continues to bubble on about all the fun stuff they can do while they are on this little camping trip of their, almost like he had it all planned this whole time. He is acting like he isn’t even fazed about everything that had gone down today making it hard for Grayson to continue to mope about it. And once he brought up skinny dipping, it did help lighten his mood just a tad. He still doesn’t trust himself enough to even think about using his power, and god will he never be able to forgive himself. 

But if Ethan wants to go camping, then they can go camping. Fuck his coffee jo, he was probably going get fired anyway.


End file.
